
Glass 



Publication No. 101 



Collections 



of 



The Western Reserve Historical 
Society 



Organized 1867 
Incorporated 1892 




1920 




WILLIAM C. COCHRAN. L.L.L). 



/ 

Publication No. 101 

COLLECTIONS 



The Western Reserve 
Historical Society 



Issued January 1920 



THE WESTERN RESERVE 

AND 

THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW 

A PRELUDE TO THE CIVIL WAR 



WILLIAM C. COCHRAN, LL.D. 

Honorary member of the Literary Club of Cincinnati, Life Member of 

The Western Reserve Historical Society, Member of the 

Mississippi Valley Historical Association 



CLEVELAND, OHIO 
1920 



■3 

Monograph 






By Transfer 

/dh 28 1920 



Officers 
The Western Reserve Historical Society 

OFFICERS FOR 1919-1920 

President 
William P. Palmer 

Vice President and Director 
Wallace H. Cathgart 

Honorary Vice Presidents 
John D. Rockefeller 
Jacob B. Perkins 

Secretary 
Elbert J. Benton 

Treasurer 
Wm. Thompson 



Trustees 



Elroy. M. Avery 
S. P. Baldwin 
C. W. Bingham 
A. T. Brewer 
E. S. Burke, Jr. 
W. H. Cathcart 
J. D. Cox 
Wm. G. Dietz 
James R. Garfield 
C. A. Grasselli 
Webb C. Hayes 
Ralph King 



W. G. Mather 
Price McKinney 
D. Z. Norton 
Wm. P. Palmer 
Douglas Perkins 
Jacob Perkins 
F. F. Prentiss 
J. L. Severance 
Ambrose Swasey 
Chas. F. Thwing 
J. H. Wade 
S. S. Wilson 



C. W. Bingham 
S. P. Baldwin 



Finance Committee 



F. F. Prentiss 



W. G. Dietz 
D. Z. Norton 



E. J. Benton 



Publication Committee 
W. H. Cathcart 



H. E. Bourne 



Articles of Incorporation 



STATE OF OHIO 

These Articles of Incorporation of 
The Western Reserve Historical Society 

Witnesseth, That we, the undersigned, all of whom are citizens 
of the State of Ohio, desiring to form a corporation not for profit, 
under the general corporation laws of said State, do hereby 
certify: 

First. The name of said corporation shall be The Western 
Reserve Historical Society. 

Second. Said corporation shall be located and its principle 
business transacted at the City of Cleveland, in Cuyahoga County 
Ohio. 

Third. The purpose for which said corporation is formed is 
not profit, but is to discover, collect and preserve whatever relates 
to the history, biography, genealogy, and antiquities of Ohio and 
the West; and of the people dwelling therein, including the physical 
history and condition of the State; to maintain a museum and 
library, and to extend knowledge upon the subjects mentioned, by 
literary meetings, by publication and by other proper means. 

In Witness Whereof, We have hereunto set our hands, this 
seventh day of March, A. D., 1892. 

Henry C. Ranney Charles C. Baldwin 

D. W. Manchester David C. Baldwin 

Amos Townsend, Percy W. Rice, 

William Bingham, Jas. D. Cleveland, 
A. T. Brewer 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

At this time, when the whole world is consider- 
ing the possibility of a League of Nations, which 
shall secure even the feeblest from the aggressions 
of the strong, which shall afford a means for settling 
disputes between nations without war, and which 
shall relieve all from the necessity of maintaining 
huge armies and armaments for self protection; we 
can gain much by studying anew the history of the 
Confederation once formed between the thirteen 
colonies established on our Atlantic seaboard, the 
causes for its early failure, the difficulties attending 
the formation of "a more perfect Union," and the 
provisions embodied in the new Constitution which 
constantly disturbed the relations of the component 
States and finally led to internecine war, the elimi- 
nation of the disturbing elements and the perfection 
of a Union unparalleled for its strength and freedom 
from militarism. 

In addition to the works of former historians, 
the sources of their information, the reports of United 
States and State courts and the Statutes of Ohio, 
the author has had access to the valuable collection 
of newspapers, pamphlets and documents in the pos- 
session of the Western Reserve Historical Society, 
at Cleveland, and is greatly indebted to the officers 
of that Society for the facilities they have afforded 
for conducting his investigation. This fine col- 
lection might (and should) be further enriched, if 
individuals, who have preserved files of local news- 
papers and periodicals, pamphlets, diaries, and private 
correspondence concerning public affairs, would give 



8 Introductory Note 

them to the Western Reserve Historical Society to 
be classified, catalogued, preserved and made easily 
accessible for students and historians. To the pleas- 
ures of the collector, such individuals will thus add 
the satisfaction of contributing to the public welfare 
and having their names identified with an institution 
which will outlive most families and village com- 
munities. W. C. C. 

Cincinnati, March 29, 1919. 



THE WESTERN RESERVE and 
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW 



THE ELEMENTS OF DISCORD 

ARTICLE I. 

"Section 2. Representatives and direct Taxes shall be 
apportioned among the several States which may be included 
within this Union according to their respective Numbers, which 
shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of Free Per- 
sons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and 
excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other Persons." 

ARTICLE II. 

"Section 1. Each State shall appoint in such Manner as 
the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors equal 
to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which 
the State may be entitled in the Congress." 

ARTICLE IV. 

"Section 2. No person held to Service or Labour in one 
State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in 
Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged 
from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim 
of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due." * 

Any one, who would fully understand the atti- 
tude of the people on the Western Reserve previous 
to the Civil War and during Reconstruction, should 
acquaint himself with the origin and history of the 
above clauses of the Constitution and the various 
laws, Federal and State, enacted in accordance there- 
with. 

At the time the Constitution was adopted, slavery 
had been abolished or was in process of extinction 
in all but six of the States, and in three of these, 
Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina, there was 
persistent agitation by leading citizens for its gradual 
abolition. There was, however, no disposition to 
subject slaveholders to immediate pecuniary loss. 
The general expectation was that slavery would cease 



» Ben Perley Poore, Charters and Constitutions, Vol. I, pp. 14, 17, 19. 



10 The Elements of Discord 

to exist in all the States, except possibly South Caro- 
lina and Georgia, before twenty -one years had elapsed. 
This expectation is reflected in Section 9, Article I, 
of the Constitution, which fixes the year 1808 as the 
period, prior to which Congress may not prohibit 
"The Migration or Importation of such Persons as 
any of the States now existing shall think proper 
to admit" 2 — in other words, slaves. This prospect 
made the non-slavery delegates acquiesce more readily 
in the above provisions, insisted upon by the extreme 
pro-slavery men. At the same time, it made them 
particular that the system which they detested should 
not be mentioned by name in the great charter of 
the Union. 

The apportionment of taxes and representation 
based on the number of all free persons, plus three- 
fifths of those who were not free, was an arbitrary 
measure which had no consistent theory to support 
it. In the thought of pro-slavery men, a negro was 
nothing but a domestic animal, a chattel, which could 
be bought and sold and set to work in the fields like 
any other animal. He had neither character nor 
intelligence and was in no wise to be considered, or 
treated as a man — much less as a citizen. 

Why, then, should he not be excluded from the 
enumeration on which "Representation and direct 
Taxes" were to "be apportioned among the several 
States," just as "Indians not taxed" were? 

Was the enslaved African considered higher in 
the social and political scale than a free Indian? 

Was it because a slave is property, and property 
should be considered when taxes are to be appor- 
tioned and levied? 

If so, why was not all property, north and south, 
taken into consideration at its true value in money? 

Slaves were not taken into consideration in 
apportioning representation among the counties in 



Charters and Constitutions, Vol I, p. 16. 



The Elements of Discord 11 

a slave State. Then, why should they have been 
considered in apportioning representation among the 
States ? 

If slaves were to be counted at all, why should 
not all be counted? Why three-fifths, rather than 
one-half, one-third, or one-tenth? 

These and many other questions have puzzled 
students of our national Constitution in the past, 
and will continue to puzzle students in the future; 
the more, as it is being held up as a model after which 
all future republics should be formed. The excuse, 
rather than justification, commonly offered is like 
that advanced by Von Bethmann Hollweg and Kaiser 
Wilhelm for invading Belgium in August, 1914. It 
was wrong, but it was thought necessary to carry out 
the object which the delegates to the Constitutional 
Convention had in view — a Union, * 'perfect" or other- 
wise, of all the States. 

Genesis of the Three-fifths Rule and Fugitive 
Slave Provision. 

A Confederation of States had been formed a 
little over nine years before, but the Articles of Con- 
federation contained no provisions like those above 
quoted from the first and fourth Articles of our present 
Constitution. 

"Article 5. * * * No State shall be represented in Con- 
gress by less than two nor more than seven members. * * * 

In determining questions in the United States in Congress 
assembled, each State shall have one vote." 

"Article 8. All charges of war and all other expenses 
that shall be incurred for the common defence or general 
welfare * * * shall be defrayed out of a common treas- 
ury, which shall be supplied by the several States, in pro- 
portion to the value of all land within each State, granted 
to or surveyed for any person, as such land and the buildings 
and improvements thereon shall be estimated according to 
such mode as the United States in Congress assembled shall, 
from time to time, direct and appoint." 3 



1 Charters and Constitutions, Vol. I, pp. 8-9. 



12 The Elements of Discord 

Thus, the troublesome question of apportion- 
ment for representation and taxation was settled in 
the Constitution adopted by the Constitutional Con- 
gress, November 15, 1777, and ratified by the signa- 
tures of delegates from the several States, at Phila- 
delphia, July 9, 1778. Thus, too, the "Sovereignty" 
of the respective States was protected against a 
national power created by themselves. 

It was not settled without debate. In the original 
draft of a Constitution it was proposed that the 
Treasury "should be supplied by the several colonies 
in proportion to the number of inhabitants of every 
age, sex and quality, except Indians not paying taxes, 
in each colony." 

Samuel Chase, of Maryland, moved that the 
quotas should be fixed, not by the number of inhabi- 
tants of every condition, but by that of the "white 
inhabitants." He admitted that theoretically taxa- 
tion should always be in proportion to property; 
but maintained that it could never be carried out in 
practice, because of the difficulties in discovering and 
fixing the value of property. Negroes are property 
and, as such, cannot be distinguished from lands or 
personalty held in those States where there are few 
slaves. There is no more reason for taxing the South- 
ern States on a slave's head, than for taxing Northern 
ones on their heads of cattle. There spoke the logi- 
cian; but his logic was sharpened by the interest of 
his State in shifting the burden of taxation from 
Southern to Northern States. 4 John Adams, of 
Massachusetts, argued that the numbers of people 
were taken as a fair index of the wealth of a State, 
and not as subjects of taxation; that it was of no 
consequence by what name you called your people, 
whether by that of free men or of slaves. "Suppose," 
he said, "one half the laborers of a State could, in the 
course of one night be transformed into slaves, would 



« Elliott, Debates on the Federal Constitution, Vol. I, 70 up. 



The Elements of Discord 13 

the State be made poorer, or the less able to pay 
taxes?" 5 There also spoke the logician. But it 
is quite probable that, if the question had been one 
of apportioning representation instead of taxation, 
Chase would have advocated the enumeration of all 
slaves on the ground laid down by Adams, and Adams 
would have argued that slaves should not be counted 
as freemen. Chase's motion to amend was defeated 
by the votes of the seven Northern States — Dela- 
ware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South 
Carolina voting aye, Georgia divided. 6 

Dr. John Witherspoon, of New Jersey, President 
of Princeton College, was of opinion that the value 
of lands and houses was the best estimate of wealth 
and that it was practicable to obtain such a valua- 
tion 7 and his suggestion was finally adopted. Before 
the vote was taken, however, Benjamin Harrison, 
of Virginia, proposed, as a compromise, that two 
slaves should be counted as one freeman. 8 But little 
notice was taken of it, at that time. 

The article in regard to giving each State an equal 
vote was opposed on the ground that it was unjust 
to the States having a large population. Why should 
little Delaware offset the vote of Pennsylvania, or 
little Rhode Island offset the vote of Virginia? James 
Wilson, of Pennsylvania, thought that taxation should 
be in proportion to wealth, but that representation 
should accord with the number of freemen. "It is 
strange," he said, "that annexing the name of 'State' 
to ten thousand men should give them an equal right 
with forty thousand. * * * Shall two millions 
of people put it in the power of one million to govern 
them as they please?" 9 But, in the end, the "State 
Sovereignty" idea prevailed and the States confed- 
erated on the basis of equality. 

When the delegates of the several States came 



• Elliott, I., 71. « Ibid.. 73-4. 'Ibid., 73. 

•Elliott, I., 72. » Ibid., 77, 78. 



14 The Elements of Discord 

together to act on the proposed Constitution, Penn- 
sylvania moved to expunge the word "white" in the 
paragraph of the 9th article, fixing the quota of land 
forces to be furnished from each State "in propor- 
tion to the number of white inhabitants in such State." 
But the motion was defeated by 3 ayes, 7 noes, and 
1 divided. J ° 

In practice, the scheme of a Confederacy of 
independent "Sovereign States," each having an 
equal vote in Congress without reference to popula- 
tion or wealth, and each retaining within itself the 
power of laying and levying taxes for national pur- 
poses, failed to work. Congress designated from 
time to time the number of troops and the sums of 
money necessary for carrying on the war, but the 
"Sovereign States" were slow in responding. The 
State legislatures could not be always in session and 
it was no light matter to call them together between 
sessions. The several legislatures indulged in debates 
about certain requisitions, as if each had the right to 
decide for itself whether they were just or necessary, 
and whether Congress had made a fair apportion- 
ment. Many of the States claimed that they had 
contributed so many more men and so much more 
money and supplies than others that they ought to 
be exempt. Congress was without power to enforce 
the filling of any quota, or the payment of any assess- 
ment. "Sovereign States" were not to be coerced. 
The legislatures of New Jersey and Connecticut had 
expressly refused to comply with requisitions of Con- 
gress and had transmitted copies of such resolutions 
to Congress. J J In December, 1782, Virginia, by 
resolution of both Houses of the Legislature, limited 
its contribution to £50,000, Virginia currency, toward 
the demands of Congress. 1 2 

The legislature of New York in the summer of 
1782 passed resolutions declaring that: — 



io Elliott, I., 90. 

1 1 Elliott, V.; 32, 36, 119, 207, 264. 1 2 Bancroft, United States, VI., 63. 



The Elements of Discord 15 

"the Confederation was defective in not giving Congress 
power to provide a revenue for itself, or in not investing 
them with funds from established and productive sources; 
and that it would be advisable for Congress to recommend 
to the States to call a general convention, to revise and 
amend the Confederation." l3 

On February, 1783, Congress, in committee of 
the Whole, decided by a vote of eight to one, (1) that 
a valuation of land within the United States as directed 
by the Articles of Confederation should be immediately 
attempted; (2) that each State should be called on 
to make a return of the number of acres granted to 
or surveyed for any person and also the number of 
buildings within it; but, by a vote of 5 to 4, (3) that 
the States should not be called upon to return an 
estimate of the value of their lands, with the build- 
ings and improvements therein. In the discussion 
of these propositions it was pointed out that great 
inequalities and dissatisfaction were sure to result, 
as had already been demonstrated in an experiment 
in Virginia, and that a comparison of average valua- 
tion of land for State taxation in Pennsylvania and 
Virginia showed the latter to amount to fifty per 
cent more than the former, although the real value 
of land in the former was confessedly thrice that of 
the latter. x 4 Every one familiar with local appraise- 
ments of land for taxation and the work of State 
and municipal boards of equalization knows the 
difficulty to be encountered and the complaints 
which follow. But these difficulties are small as 
compared with those encountered in the attempt 
to secure returns and proper valuation of personal 
property. 

It was proposed that each State should nominate 
one commissioner and the thirteen should act as a 
board to settle the valuation. This was objected 
to on the ground that such commissioners would 
regard themselves as agents for their respective 



• Elliott, V., 1 17-18. 1 1 Elliott. V.. 46-47. 



16 The Elements of Discord 

States, and it was argued that commissioners ap- 
pointed by Congress would be more impartial. Sev- 
eral members declared themselves as opposed to the 
whole scheme of valuation of land and in favor of 
substituting numbers of the inhabitants as the rule 
for apportioning taxes. The whole matter was re- 
ferred to a special committee to draw up a proper 
act. * 5 On March 6, 1783, this committee reported 
making the following recommendation, among others : — 

"11. That as a more convenient and certain rule of 
ascertaining the proportions to be supplied by the States, 
respectively, to the common treasury, * * * it shall be 
supplied by the several States in proportion to the number 
of inhabitants, of every age, sex and condition, except In- 
dians not paying taxes in each State; which number shall 
be triennially taken and transmitted to the United States 
in Congress assembled, in such mode as they shall direct 
and appoint; provided always that in such numeration no 
persons shall be included who are bound to servitude for 
life, according to the laws of the State to which they belong, 

other than such as may be between the ages of 

years." J 6 

This recommendation was discussed on March 27. 
Bland and Lee, of Virginia, still thought the value 
of land the best rule. Madison, thought the value 
of land could never be justly or satisfactorily ob- 
tained; that it would be ever a source of contentions 
among the States. Gorham, of Massachusetts, rep- 
resented in strong terms, the inequality and clamors 
produced by valuations of land in the State of Massa- 
chusetts, and the probability of the evils being in- 
creased among the States themselves, which were 
more likely to be jealous of each other. Wilson, of 
Pennsylvania, said he was in Congress when the 
Articles of Confederation directing a value of land 
were agreed to; that the impossibility of compromis- 
ing the different ideas of the eastern and southern 
States, as to the value of slaves as compared with 



i » Elliott, V., 48, 49. 1 • Ibid., 62 to 64. 



The Elements of Discord 17 

whites, led to its adoption. Clark, of New Jersey, 
said he also was in Congress when that rule was 
adopted, that the southern States would have agreed 
to numbers in preference to land, if half their slaves 
only had been included, but that the eastern States 
would not concur in that proposition. It was finally 
agreed that instead of fixing the proportion of negroes 
to be counted by ages, it should be fixed by absolute 
numbers and the clause was recommitted so as to 
have that done. l 7 

On Friday, March 28, the committee reported 
that two blacks should be rated as one freeman. 
Carroll, of Maryland, thought four to one a better 
ratio, but four members, Wolcott, Higginson, Holton 
and Osgood, favored four to three, and Rutledge, 
of South Carolina, thought three to one the correct 
ratio. A motion for rating slaves as three to two 
failed to carry — New Hampshire, Connecticut, New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, aye, 5; Massa- 
chusetts, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South 
Carolina, no, 5; and Rhode Island, divided. After 
some further discussion, in which Lee, of Virginia, 
gave it as his opinion that two slaves were not equal 
to one freeman, Madison, who was adept in framing 
compromises, seized the psychological moment and 
proposed that slaves should be rated as five to three, 
and the article was thus amended by a vote of New 
Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, aye, 7; 
Rhode Island, Connecticut, no, 2; Massachusetts, 
divided, 1. On the adoption of the article as amended 
the vote was a tie, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
South Carolina, Connecticut and Delaware voting, no; 
and Pennsylvania not voting. * 8 

On April 1, 1783, Hamilton, of New York, who 
had been absent when these votes were taken, moved 
a reconsideration and, as it was now quite apparent 



' Elliott, V., 78-9. 1 s Ibid. ,79-80. 



18 The Elements of Discord 

to all that some change in the manner of apportioning 
taxes was necessary, and that the rule of five to three 
came nearer to "splitting the difference" than any 
that had been suggested, the article, as so amended, 
was adopted without opposition. * 9 

An ADDRESS TO THE STATES drawn up 
by Mr. Madison was passed nem. con. on April 26, 
1783, and sent out with the proposed amendments 
to the Articles of Confederation, asking them to 
instruct their respective delegates to agree to the 
same. The Address said of the rule for supplying 
the common treasury "by the several States in pro- 
portion to the whole number of white and other free 
citizens and inhabitants, of every age, sex and con- 
dition, including those bound to servitude for a term 
of years, and three-fifths of all other persons * * * 
except Indians not paying taxes :" 2 ° 

"Although not free from objections, [it] is liable to fewer 
than any other that could be devised. The only material 
difficulty which attended it in the deliberation of Congress, 
was to fix the proper difference between the labor and in- 
dustry of free inhabitants and all other inhabitants. The 
ratio agreed on was the effect of mutual concessions." 2 1 

Nothing but criticism and objections to these 
proposed amendments and the suggestion of numerous 
others resulted from this "Address." Things went 
from bad to worse. A convention of delegates met 
at Annapolis in September, 1786, and recommended 
the calling of a convention of all the States to revise, 
amend or alter the Articles of Confederation, so as 
to make the government more efficient. The dele- 
gates from New York were instructed by its legislature 
to move in Congress for the calling of such a conven- 
tion. 2 2 This, in the opinion of Madison "conduced 
much to decide the point," and on February 21, 1787, 
Congress adopted a resolution calling a 



• •Elliott. V..8 1. "Elliott. I.. 95. 

> i Elliott, I., 98-9. • " Elliott, I., 1 19; V., 96. 



The Elements of Discord 19 

"convention of delegates, who shall have been appointed 
by the several States, [to] be held at Philadelphia, for the 
sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Con- 
federation, and reporting to Congress and the several legis- 
latures such alterations and provisions therein as shall, 
when agreed to in Congress, and confirmed by the States, 
render the federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies 
of government and the preservation of the Union." 23 

The urgent need for such a convention was set 
out in a letter by James Madison to Edmund Ran- 
dolph, Governor of Virginia, dated February 25, 1787. 

"Our situation is becoming every day more and more 
critical. No money comes into the federal treasury; no 
respect is paid to the federal authority; and people of reflec- 
tion unanimously agree that the existing Confederacy is 
tottering to its foundation. Many individuals of weight, 
particularly in the eastern district, are suspected of leaning 
toward monarchy. Other individuals predict a partition 
of the States into two or more confederacies. It is pretty 
certain that, if some radical amendment of the single one 
cannot be devised and introduced, one or the other of these 
resolutions — the latter no doubt — will take place." 24 

Another letter from Madison to Randolph, dated 
April 8, 1787, sets forth some of the evils to be cor- 
rected and some of the obstacles to be overcome. 
He says: — 

"I hold it for a fundamental point that an individual 
independence of the States is utterly irreconcilable with the 
idea of an aggregate sovereignty. * * * 

The first step to be taken is, I think, a change in the prin- 
ciples of representation. According to the present form of 
the Union, an equality of suffrage, if not just towards the 
larger members of it, is at least safe to them, as the liberty 
they exercise of rejecting or executing the acts of Congress 
is uncontrollable by the nominal sovereignty of Congress. 
Under a system which would operate without the inter- 
vention of the States, the case would be materially altered. 
A vote from Delaware would have the same effect as one from 
Massachusetts or Virginia. 

Let the national government be armed with a positive 
and complete authority in all cases where uniform measures 



"Elliott.. I., 120. * « Ibid.. V., 106. 



20 The Elements of Discord 

are necessary, as in trade, &c, &c. * * * Let this 
national supremacy be extended to the judiciary depart- 
ment. 

The change in the principle of representation will be 
relished by a majority of the States, and those too of most 
influence. The Northern States will be reconciled to it by 
the actual superiority of their populousness; the Southern, by 
their expected superiority on this point. This principle 
established, the repugnance of the large States to part with 
power will in a great degree subside, and the smaller States 
must ultimately yield to the predominant will." 2 5 

In another place he says: 

"But the radical infirmity of the 'Articles of Confedera- 
tion' was the dependence of Congress on the voluntary and 
simultaneous compliance with its requirement by so many 
independent communities, each consulting more or less its 
particular interests and convenience, and distrusting the 
compliance of others." 2 6 

The day appointed for the meeting of the Con- 
vention was the second Monday in May, 1787, but the 
25th was the first day upon which a sufficient number 
of members appeared to represent a majority of the 
States. They then elected George Washington their 
President and proceeded to business. 2 7 The sessions 
lasted from May 25 to Nov. 17, when the Constitution 
in its final form was signed by delegates representing 
a majority of the States and sent to the respective 
States for ratification. There were well-nigh ir- 
reconcilable differences of opinion on many points, 
and the debates, always animated, seem to have been 
marked at times with ill temper. 2 8 



»» Elliott, V., 107. 2 6 Ibid., 112. »> Elliott, I., 120. 

"It is interesting at this time, when it is seriously proposed to form a League 
of Nations, to settle international disputes and secure peace, to follow these de- 
bates and study with care the solution of questions which are bound to arise in 
any such attempt. The first and most important question will be in what pro- 
portions shall the respective nations be represented in such a League. Shall the 
greatest have only the same vote in determining questions arising as the least; 
or shall representation be apportioned to the nations on the basis of comparative 
populations, or comparative wealth? How shall the League arrive at and enforce 
its decrees? How shall it be provided with funds, ships, armies, etc., to carry 
out any of its objects? Shall it be through the voluntary contributions of the 
constituent nations? The failure of the Articles of Confederation to secure 



The Elements of Discord 21 

The delegates to the Constitutional Convention 
were all impressed with the weakness of the existing 
Confederation and the necessity of strengthening 
the central government, but they were divided, by 
conflicting interests and jealous fears, into many 
hostile groups and it seemed, at times, as though it 
would be impossible to reach an agreement. The 
majority of the delegates, like Madison, came to the 
Convention with the settled purpose of doing away 
with the Confederacy of "independent sovereign 
States" and of framing a central government, which 
should have supreme control in regard to raising 
revenues, armies, etc., and an independent executive 
and judiciary to compel the people of the respective 
States to respect its laws. A strong minority, how- 
ever, wished only to patch up the old Articles of 
Confederation and still retain the feature of inde- 
pendent State action on all matters recommended 
by Congress. They also were very determined to 
adhere to the existing system of voting by States — 
each State to have an equal vote, regardless of size, 
wealth, or population. This was the attitude of the 
small States, generally. 2 9 One may infer, with reas- 



money, arms and men during the war of the Revolution; and the failure of the 
German Diet, in 1866, to restrain its most powerful member, Prussia, in its open 
defiance of the Diet's decision of its dispute with Austria over Schleswig-Holstein. 
furnish instructive object lessons. Much also can be learned from the debates 
in the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The delegates may not have been 
infallible, but they were, probably, the wisest and most experienced statesmen 
of their day and they went about their work with all due seriousness. That 
their views were influenced largely by the interests of the respective states they 
may have represented, is apparent, and the same thing may be expected of any 
assembly of delegates convened for the purpose of organizing a League of Nations. 

'•Rhode Island, the smallest of the States, having an area of only 1,248 square 
miles, refused to send delegates to, or have anything to do with, the Convention. 
New Hampshire, with an area of only 9,341 square miles, much of it mountainous 
and sparsely settled, was not represented until the Convention had been in session 
two months. Oddly enough, a majority of the delegates from New York, with 
its area of 58,768 square miles (then including Vermont) and its great agricultural 
and commercial advantages, sided with the little States and vigorously opposed 
the substitution of representation in proportion to numbers, for the existing 
method of voting by States, regardless of size, or population. When the prin- 
ciple of representation in proportion to numbers was finally adopted, Yates and 
Lansing, of New York, left the Convention, never to return, as did Luther Martin, 
of Maryland. 



22 The Elements of Discord 

onable certainty, whether a delegate came from a 
large or a small State, by his attitude on this question, 
which was the first one to be settled by the Con- 
vention. 30 



« » Mr. Brearly, of New Jersey, said, "It had been much agitated in Congress 
at the time of forming the Confederation and was then rightly settled by allowing 
to each sovereign State an equal vote. * * * There will be three large 
States, and ten small ones. The large States, by which he meant Massachusetts, 
Pennsylvania and Virginia, will carry everything before them. * * * When 
the proposition for destroying the equality of votes came forward, he was as- 
tonished, he was alarmed." Mr. Patterson, also of New Jersey, "considered the 
proposition for a proportional representation as striking at the existence of the 
lesser States. * * * He said there was no more reason that a great indi- 
vidual State, contributing much, should have more votes than a small one con- 
tributing little, than a rich individual citizen should have more votes than an 
indigent one. * * * He alluded to the point, thrown out by Mr. Wilson, 
of the necessity to which the large States might be reduced, of confederating 
among themselves, by a refusal of the others to concur. Let them unite if they 
please, but let them remember that they have no authority to make others unite. 
New Jersey will never confederate on the plan before the committee. She would be 
swallowed up. * * * He would not only oppose the plan here, but, on his 
return home, do everything in his power to defeat it there." Mr. Wilson, of 
Pennsylvania, * * * entered elaborately into the defence of a proportional 
representation, stating, for his first position, that as all authority was derived 
from the people, equal numbers of people ought to have equal numbers of repre- 
sentatives. * * * Are not the citizens of Pennsylvania equal to those of 
New Jersey? Does it require one hundred and fifty of the former to balance 
fifty of the latter? * * * If the small States will not confederate on this 
plan, Pennsylvania, and he presumed other States, would not confederate on any 
other. If New Jersey will not part with her sovereignty, it is vain to talk of gov- 
ernment." (Elliott, V., 175 to 177 inch) 

Two days later, Mr. Rutledge, of South Carolina, "proposed that the pro- 
portion of suffrage in the first branch should be according to the quotas of con- 
tribution. The justice of this rule, he said, could not be contested. Mr. Butler, 
also of South Carolina, urged the same idea; adding, that money was power; and 
that the States ought to have weight in the government in proportion to their 
wealth. Mr. Dickinson, of Delaware, contended for the actual contributions 
of the States as the rule of their representation, and suffrage in the first branch. 
By thus connecting the interests of the States with their duty, the latter would 
be sure to be performed. (Ibid. p. 178.) 

"The question being about to be put, Dr. Franklin said, he had thrown 
his ideas of the matter on a paper; which Mr. Wilson read to the committee, in 
the words following: — 

'Mr. Chairman: It has given me great pleasure to observe, that till this 
point — the proportion of representation — came before us, our debates were car- 
ried on with great coolness and temper. If anything of a contrary kind has on 
this occasion appeared, I hope it will not be repeated; for we are sent here to 
consult, not to contend, with each other, and declarations of a fixed opinion, and 
of determined resolution never to change it, neither enlighten nor convince us. 
Positiveness and warmth on one side naturally beget their like on the other, and 
tend to create and augment discord and division, in a great concern wherein 
harmony and union are extremely necessary to give weight to our councils, and 
render them effectual in promoting and securing the common good. 

* * * 'I now think the number of representatives should bear some pro- 
portion to the number represented, and that the decisions should be by the majority 



The Elements of Discord 23 

In order to bring the question to a point, King 
of Massachusetts, and Wilson, of Pennsylvania, moved 
(June 11, 1783);— 

"that the right of suffrage in the first branch of the national 
legislature ought not to be according to the rule established 
in the Articles of Confederation, but according to some equit- 
able ratio of representation." 

and on that question, Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Caro- 
lina, and Georgia, voted aye, 7; New York, New Jer- 
sey and Delaware, no, 3; Maryland, divided. 31 

It was then moved by Mr. Rutledge, seconded 
by Mr. Butler, both of South Carolina, to add to the 
words "equitable ratio of representation," at the end 
of the motion just agreed to, the words "according 
to the quotas of contribution." 

On motion of Mr. Wilson, of Pennsylvania, 
seconded by Mr. Pinckney, of South Carolina, this 
was postponed in order to add, after the words "equit- 
able ratio of representation" the words following — 
"in proportion to the whole number of white and 
other free citizens and inhabitants of every age,, sex 
and condition, including those bound to servitude 
for a term of years, and three-fifths of all other persons 

of members, not by the majority of the states. This is objected to from an appre- 
hension that the greater states would then swallow up the smaller. I do not at 
present clearly see what advantage the greater states could propose to them- 
selves by swallowing up the smaller, and therefore do not apprehend they would 
attempt it. * * * But, sir, in the present mode of voting by states, it is 
equally in the power of the lesser states to swallow up the greater; and this is 
mathematically demonstrable. * * * 

'The greater states, sir, are naturally as unwilling to have their property left 
in the disposition of the smaller, as the smaller are to have theirs in the disposition 
of the greater. * * * I beg leave to propose, for the consideration of the 
committee, another mode, which appears to me to be as equitable, more easily 
carried into practice, and more permanent in its nature. 

'Let the weakest state say what proportion of money or force it is able and 
willing to furnish for the general purposes of the Union; 

'Let all the others oblige themselves to furnish each an equal proportion; 

'The whole of these joint supplies to be absolutely in the disposition of Congress; 

'The Congress, in this case, to be composed of an equal number of delegates 
from each State; 

'And their decisions to be by the majority of individual members voting.' " 

(lb. pp. 179-80). 
• 1 Elliott. V., 181. 



The Elements of Discord 25 

Was it probable that the states would adopt and ratify a 
scheme which they had never authorized us to propose * * * 
We see by their several acts in relation to the plan of 
revenue proposed by Congress in 1783 * * * what were 
the ideas they then entertained." 3 3 

Mr. Pinckney, of South Carolina, said: "The 
whole comes to this * * *. Give New Jersey an 
equal vote and she will dismiss her scruples and 
concur in the national system." 3 4 

Mr. Hamilton, of New York, could, by no means, 
accede to the sentiments of his colleagues. 3 6 

Criticising Mr. Patterson's plan of government 
he said, among other things: 

"Another destructive ingredient in the plan is that quality 
of suffrage which is so much desired by the small States. 
It is not in human nature that Virginia and the large States 
should consent to it; or, if they did, that they should long 
abide by it. It shocks too much all ideas of justice." 3 6 

Mr. Madison, of Virginia, observed, regarding 
Mr. Patterson's plan, that the violators of the Federal 
Articles had been numerous and notorious. Among 
the most notorious was an act of New Jersey herself; 
by which she expressly refused to comply with a con- 
stitutional requisition of Congress. Connecticut had 
to be bribed by a donation of public land (The Wes- 
tern Reserve) to acquiesce in a decree constitutionally 
awarded against her claim on the territory of Penn- 
sylvania. 3 7 

He begged them to consider the situation in 
which they would remain, in case their pertinacious 
adherence to an inadmissible plan should prevent 
the adoption of any plan. He said: 

"Let the union of the states be dissolved and one of two 
consequences must happen. Either the states must remain 
individually independent and sovereign; or two or more con- 
federacies must be formed among them. In the first event, 
would the small states be more secure against the ambition 



'Elliott, V.. 193. • « Ibid., 197. » » Ibid. 198. 

1 Ibid., 201. » ' Ibid., 207-208. 



24 The Elements of Discord 

* * * except Indians not paying taxes," — this being 
the rule recommended to the States by Congress in 
April, 1783. 

Mr. Gerry, of Massachusetts, thought property 
not the rule of representation. Why, then, should 
the blacks, who were property in the South, be in the 
rule of representation, more than the cattle and 
horses of the North? 

On the question, — Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North 
Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia voted aye, 9; 
New Jersey and Delaware, no, 2. 

Mr. Sherman, seconded by Mr. Ellsworth, both 
of Connecticut, moved that each State shall have 
one vote in the second branch. Everything, Mr. 
Sherman said, depended on this. The smaller States 
would never agree to the plan on any other principle 
than an equality of suffrage in this branch. 

Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, 
and Maryland, voted aye, 5; Massachusetts, Penn- 
sylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
no, 6. It was then moved that the ratio of repre- 
sentation in the second branch be the same as in the 
first and carried by the same vote. 3 2 

All this was in committee of the Whole and not 
binding until reported to and formally confirmed by 
the Convention. So the discussion went right on 
as if nothing had been settled. Mr. Patterson, of 
New Jersey, and Mr. Lansing, of New York, made 
the point that the call for the Convention and the 
commissions of the delegates limited the delegates 
to amendments to the Articles of Confederation. 

Mr. Lansing said: 

"New York would never have concurred in sending dep- 
uties to the Convention, if she had supposed the delibera- 
tions were to turn on a consolidation of the States and a 
national government. 



»* Elliott. V.. 1 8 1-2. 



26 The Elements of Discord 

and power of their larger neighbors, than they would be under 
a general government pervading with equal energy every 
part of the empire, and having an equal interest in protecting 
every part against every other part? In the second, can the 
smaller expect that their larger neighbors would confederate 
on the principle of the present Confederacy, which gives 
to each member an equal suffrage; or that they would exact 
less severe concessions from the smaller states, than are 
proposed in the scheme of Mr. Randolph? 

The great difficulty lies in the affair of representation, and 
if this could be adjusted, all others would be surmountable. 
It was admitted by both the gentlemen from New Jersey, 
(Mr. Brearly and Mr. Patterson,) that it would not be just 
to allow Virginia, which was sixteen times as large as Delaware, 
an equal vote only. Their language was, that it would not 
be safe for Delaware to allow Virginia sixteen times as many 
votes." 38 

On the question moved by Mr. King, of Massa- 
chusetts, whether Mr. Randolph's plan for a national 
government should be adhered to, as preferable to 
those of Mr. Patterson for a modified confederacy, 
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia voted 
aye, 7; New York, New Jersey, and Delaware, no, 3; 
Maryland divided. 3 9 

The questions discussed in Committee of the 
Whole were then transferred to the Convention, and 
reargued at great length. 

After a particularly tedious debate participated 
in by Luther Martin who occupied nearly two whole 
days, and Messrs. Lansing, Williamson, Madison, 
Wilson, and Sherman, Dr. Franklin said that it 
was time to apply humbly "to the Father of lights 
to illuminate our understandings" and proposed that 
"prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its 
blessings on our deliberations be held every morning 
before we proceed to business." He uttered a solemn 
warning that if they remained — 

"divided by little partial local interests; our projects will be con- 
founded; and we ourselves shall become a reproach and by- 



• •Elliott, V., 2IO-U. » "Ibid., 211. 



The Elements of Discord 27 

word down to future ages. And, what is worse, mankind 
may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of 
establishing governments by human wisdom, and leave it 
to chance, war and conquest." 4 ° 

Mr. Madison: — 

"prayed them to ponder well the consequences of suffering the 
Confederacy to go to pieces. * * * The weakness and 
jealousy of the small states would quickly introduce some 
regular military force, against sudden danger from their 
powerful neighbors. The example would be followed by 
others, and would soon become universal * * * Through- 
out all Europe, the armies kept up under the pretext of 
defending, have enslaved, the people." 4 * 

Mr. Hamilton pointed out another consequence 
"of a most serious nature": — 

"Alliances will immediately be formed with different rival 
and hostile nations of Europe, who will foment disturbances 
among ourselves, and make us parties to all their own quar- 
rels. Foreign nations having foreign dominion are, and 
must be, jealous of us. * * * It had been said, that 
respectability in the eyes of foreign nations was not the object 
at which we aimed; that the proper object of republican 
government was domestic tranquility and happiness. * * * 
No government could give us tranquility and happiness at 
home, which did not possess sufficient stability and strength 
to make us respectable abroad. This was the critical moment 
for forming such a government." 4 2 

Mr. Bedford, of Delaware, said: — 

"the little states are willing to observe their engagements, but 
will meet the large ones on no other grounds but that of 
the Confederation. We have been told with a dictatorial 
air, that this is the last moment for a fair trial in favor of 
a good government. It will be the last, indeed, if the prop- 
ositions reported from the committee go forth to the peo- 
ple. He was under no apprehensions. The large states dare 
not dissolve the Confederation. If they do, the small ones 
will find some foreign ally, of more honor and good faith, 
who will take them by the hand and do them justice. 4 3 



« o Elliott, V., 253-4. 4 ' Ibid., 257. 

«» Ibid.. 258-9. «»Ibid. V., 268. 



28 The Elements of Discord 

Big talk from a little state, threatening to take 
the very course which Hamilton had pointed out as 
one of the greatest evils of disunion! 

A suggestion of compromise, first thrown out by 
Mr. Sherman in Committee of the Whole, June 11, 
and repeated in Convention, June 20, was taken up 
on June 29th and elaborated by Dr. Johnson and Mr. 
Ellsworth, the latter of whom moved its adoption. 
As stated by Dr. Johnson: — 

"in some respects, the states are to be considered in their polit- 
ical capacity, and, in others, as districts of individual citizens. 
The two ideas embraced on different sides, instead of being 
opposed to each other, ought to be combined — that in one 
branch the people ought to be represented, in the other, the 
States." 4 4 

Mr. Ellsworth said, inter al: — 

"We were partly national, partly federal. The propor- 
tional representation in the first branch was conformable 
to the national principle and would secure the large states 
against the small. An equality of voices was conformable 
to the federal principle and was necessary to secure the small 
states against the large. He trusted on this middle ground, 
a compromise would take place. He did not see that it 
could, on any other, and if no compromise should take place, 
our meeting would not only be in vain, but worse than in 
vain." 4 6 

A vote on Mr. Ellsworth's motion resulted — 
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and 
Maryland, ay, 5; Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, no, 5; 
Georgia, divided, 1. 46 Mr. Sherman said: — 

"We are now at a full stop; and nobody, he supposed, meant 
that we should break up without doing something. A com- 
mittee he thought most likely to hit on some expedient." 

Mr. Williamson, of North Carolina, said: — 

"If we do not concede on both sides, our business must 
soon be at an end. He approved of the commitment. On 



Elliott, V.. 255. «« Ibid.. 260. «• Ibid., 270. 



The Elements of Discord 29 

the question for committing it 'to a member from each 
state,' the motion was carried ten to one — Pennsylvania 
alone voting 'no.' " 4 7 

This committee brought in a report, July 5, 
recommending, that the first branch should be or- 
ganized on the principle adopted in the Committee 
of the Whole, and that all bills for raising or appro- 
priating money should originate in that branch, and 

2. That, in the second branch, each state could 
have an equal vote. 

The debate began all over again, the same argu- 
ments being used pro and con as before. 4 8 But on 
July 7, the 2d recommendation was carried, Connec- 
ticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland 
and North Carolina voting aye, 6; Pennsylvania, Vir- 
ginia, South Carolina, no, 3; Massachusetts and 
Georgia, divided, 2. 4 9 

This point having been established, debate began 
on the basis of apportionment for the first, or popular, 
branch. 

Mr. Patterson, of New Jersey: — 

"could regard negro slaves in no other light, but as property. 
They are no free agents, have no personal liberty, no faculty 
of acquiring property, but on the contrary are themselves 
property, and, like other property, entirely at the will of the 
master. Has a man in Virginia a number of votes, in pro- 
portion to the number of his slaves? If negroes are not 
represented in the states to which they belong, why should 
they be represented in the general government?" 60 
Mr. Butler and Mr. Pinckney, both from South 
Carolina, insisted that blacks be included in the rule 
of representation equally with the whites; and for 
that purpose moved that the words "three-fifths" be 
struck out. 

Mr. Gorham, of Massachusetts: — 

"This ratio was fixed by Congress as a rule of taxation. 
Then it was urged, by the delegates representing the states 
having slaves, that the blacks were still more inferior to 



• 'Elliott, V., 273. < slbid., 274 to 285. * •Ibid.. 286. 

' Ibid., 289. 



30 The Elements of Discord 

freemen. At present, when the ratio of representation is to 
be established, we are assured that they are equal to freemen." 

Mr. Mason, of Virginia: — 

"Could not agree to the motion, notwithstanding it was 
favorable to Virginia, because he thought it unjust. It was 
certain that the slaves were valuable, as they raised the 
value of land, increased the exports and imports, and, of 
course, the revenue; would supply the means of finding and 
supporting an army; and might, in cases of emergency, be- 
come themselves soldiers. As in these important respects 
they were useful to the community at large, they ought not 
to be excluded from the estimate of representation. He 
could not, however, regard them as equal to freemen, and 
could not vote for them as such." 

Mr. Williamson, of North Carolina: — 

"reminded Mr. Gorham, that, if the Southern States con- 
tended for the inferiority of blacks to whites when taxation 
was in view, the Eastern States, on the same occasion, con- 
tended for their equality. He did not, however, either then 
or now, concur in either extreme, but approved of the ratio 
of three-fifths." 

Mr. Butler's motion to strike out three-fifths 
was lost — Delaware, South Carolina and Georgia 
voting aye, 3; Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jer- 
sey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Caro- 
lina, no, 7; New York, not on the floor. 5 1 

"On the question on the first clause of Mr. Williamson's 
motion, as to taking a census of the free inhabitants, it passed 
in the affirmative, — Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, aye 6; Delaware, 
Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia, no, 4. 

The next clause, as to three-fifths of the negroes, 
being considered : — 

Mr. King, [Mass.l being much opposed to fixing numbers 
as the rule of representation, was particularly so on account 
of the blacks. He thought the admission of them along with 
whites at all would excite great discontents among the states 
having no slaves." B 2 



• i Elliott. V.. 296. « 'Ibid., 300. 



The Elements of Discord 31 

"Mr. Wilson did not well see on what principle the ad- 
mission of blacks, in the proportion of three fifths, could be 
explained. Are they admitted as citizens — then why are 
they not admitted on an equality with white citizens? Are 
they admitted as property — then why is not other property 
admitted into the computation? These were difficulties, 
however, which he thought must be overruled by the necessity 
of compromise." 

"Mr. Gottverneur Morris was compelled to declare 
himself reduced to the dilemma of doing injustice to the 
Southern States, or to human nature, and he must therefore 
do it to the former; for he could never agree to give such 
encouragement to the slave trade as would be given by allow- 
ing them a representation for their negroes; and he did not 
believe those states would ever confederate on terms that 
would deprive them of that trade." 

On the question for agreeing to include three- 
fifths of the blacks, Connecticut, Virginia, North Caro- 
line, Georgia, aye, 4; Massachusetts, New Jersey, Penn- 
sylvania, Delaware, Maryland, South Carolina, no. 53 

On July 12, Gouverneur Morris, of Pennsylvania, 
moved to add to the clause, empowering the legisla- 
ture to vary the representation according to the prin- 
ciples of wealth and numbers of inhabitants, a proviso 
"that taxation shall be in proportion to representa- 
tion." 5 4 As he had been consistently opposed to 
the blacks being enumerated in apportioning repre- 
sentation, and as he was familiar with the opposition 
of Southern States to their being enumerated as a 
basis of taxation, it must be inferred that he thought, 
by coupling taxation with representation, he would 
induce the Southern delegates to abandon their 
demand that the slaves, or any portion of them, should 
be counted in apportioning representation. He must 
have been surprised at the alacrity with which Butler 
and Pinckney, both of South Carolina, accepted his 
amendment. 

Mr. Butler contended, again, that representa- 
tion should be according to the full number of inhabi- 



»» Elliott, V., 301. »« Ibid., 302. 



32 The Elements of Discord 

tants, including all the blacks, admitting the justice 
of Mr. Gouverneur Morris's motion. 

Gen. Pinckney liked the idea. He thought it 
so just that it could not be objected to; * * * He 
was alarmed at what was said yesterday, concerning 
the negroes. He was now alarmed again at what 
had been thrown out concerning the taxing of ex- 
ports. * * * He hoped a clause would be in- 
serted in the system, restraining the legislature from 
taxing exports. 

Mr. Morris, still believing that future legislatures 
might reduce, or do away entirely with, the enumera- 
tion of blacks as a basis of taxation and representation, 
was induced to make his motion still more acceptable 
by inserting the word "direct" before "taxation" 
and thereupon his motion passed nem. con. as follows: 
"provided always direct taxation ought to be pro- 
portioned to representation." He did not foresee, 
what actually came to pass, that direct taxation was 
almost never resorted to, by Congress, and that the 
slave states got the benefit of increased representation 
based on three-fifths of their slaves, without any 
corresponding obligation. Direct taxes were "laid 
on" the respective States by Acts of Congress, dated 
August 2, 1813, and January 9, 1815, to pay the 
extraordinary expenses attending and following the 
War of 1812. Ohio's quota under the first act was 
$88,527.62, (12 O.L., 3-4); under the second, $175,000 
(13 O.L., 304-5) and $200,000 (14 O.L., 185-6). 

Some of the delegates from Southern States 
evidently shared Morris's belief. 

Mr. Davie, of North Carolina, who was seldom 
heard in the Convention, said: — 

"it was high time now to speak out. He said that it was 
meant by some gentlemen to deprive the Southern States of 
any share of representation for their blacks. He was sure that 
North Carolina would never confederate on any terms that 
did not rate them at least as three-fifths. If the Eastern 



The Elements of Discord 33 

States meant, therefore, to exclude them altogether, the 
business was at an end." 5 B 

Mr. Randolph was not satisfied with the motion : — 

"the ingenuity of the legislature may evade or pervert the rule, 
so as to perpetuate the power where it shall be lodged in the 
first instance. * * * He urged strenuously, that express 
security ought to be provided for including slaves in the 
ratio of representation. * * * It was perceived that the 
design was entertained by some of excluding slaves altogether; 
the legislature therefore ought not to be left at liberty." 5 6 

Mr. Pinckney moved to amend Mr. Randolph's 
motion so as to make "blacks equal to the whites in the 
ratio of representation." Playing on Morris's hopes, he 
added, "It will also be politic with regard to the 
Northern States as taxation is to keep pace with 
representation." 

Mr. Pinckney's motion, for rating blacks as equal 
to whites was lost — only South Carolina and Georgia 
voting for it. 5 7 

On the question of the whole proposition, as pro- 
portioning representation to direct taxation, and 
both, to the white and three-fifths of the black in- 
habitants, and requiring a census within six years 
and within every ten years thereafter, — 

Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, 
North Carolina and Georgia voted aye, 6; New Jersey 
and Delaware, no, 2; Massachusetts and South Caro- 
lina divided. 6 8 

The whole subject was opened up again on July 
13th (a day to be remembered), by a motion of Mr. 
Randolph to reconsider. Mr. Butler said: — 

"The security the Southern States want is, that their 
negroes may not be taken from them, which some gentlemen 
within or without doors have a very good mind to do." 6 9 

Mr. Madison said: — 

"It seemed now to be pretty well understood, that the real 
difference lay, not between the large and small, but between 



1 Elliott, V.. 302-3. • • Ibid., 303-4. 1 ^ Ibid., 305. 

' Ibid., 305-6. » • Ibid., 309, 



34 The Elements of Discord 

the northern and southern states. The institution of slavery, 
and its consequences, formed the line of discrimination." 6 ° 

July 16, on the question for agreeing to the whole 
report, as amended, and including the equality of 
votes in the second branch, it passed in the affirmative. 

Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, 
North Carolina, aye, 5; Pennsylvania, Virginia, South 
Carolina, Georgia, no, 4; Massachusetts, divided. 61 

Mr. Randolph thought, in view of the fact that 
the small states persisted in demanding an equal 
vote in all cases; that they have succeeded in obtain- 
ing it; and that New York, if present, would prob- 
ably be on the same side. 

"that we were unprepared to discuss the subject further. It 
will probably be in vain to come to any final decision, with a 
bare majority on either side. For these reasons he wished 
the Convention to adjourn, that the large states might con- 
sider the steps proper to be taken, in the present solemn 
crisis of the business." 

Mr. Patterson thought, with Mr. Randolph, 
that : — 

"it was high time for the Convention to adjourn; that the rule 
of secrecy ought to be rescinded; and that our constituents 
should be consulted. No conciliation could be admissible, 
on the part of the smaller states, on any other ground than 
that of an equality of votes in the second branch. If Mr. 
Randolph would reduce to form his motion to adjourn sine 
die he would second it with all his heart." 

Mr. Broome, of Delaware- — 

"thought it his duty to declare an opinion against an ad- 
journment sine die, as had been urged by Mr. Patterson. 
Such a measure, he thought, would be fatal. Something must 
be done by the convention, though it should be by a bare 
majority." 

Mr. Rutledge, of South Carolina, could see no 
need of an adjournment. The little states were 
fixed. They had repeatedly and solemnly declared 



i • Elliott, V., 315. • » Ibid., 3 16. 



The Elements of Discord 35 

themselves to be so. All that the large states, then, 
had to do was, to decide whether they would yield 
or not. 6 2 

July 23d, John Langdon and Nicholas Gillman, 
from New Hampshire, took their seats. 6 3 Mr. Gerry, 
of Massachusetts, moved that the proceedings of the 
Convention for the establishment of a national gov- 
ernment (except the part relating to the executive) 
be referred to a committee to prepare and report a 
constitution conformable thereto. 

Gen. Pinckney reminded the Convention that 
if the committee should fail to insert some security 
to the Southern States against an emancipation of 
slaves and taxes on exports (cotton, tobacco and sugar) 
he should be bound by duty to his State to vote against 
the report. 

The appointment by a committee as moved by 
Mr. Gerry, was agreed to nem con. 6 4 

The next day Mr. Morris said naively: — 

"he hoped the committee would strike out the whole of 
the clause proportioning direct taxation to representation. 
He had only meant it as a bridge to assist us over a 
certain gulf. The object was to lessen the eagerness on one 
side for, and the opposition on the other to, the share of 
representation claimed by the Southern States on account 
of the negroes." 

On a ballot for a committee to report a Con- 
stitution conformable to the resolutions passed by 
the Convention, the members chosen were — Mr. 
Rutledge, of South Carolina, Mr. Randolph, of Vir- 
ginia, Mr. Gorham, of Massachusetts, Mr. Ellsworth, 
of Connecticut, and Mr. Wilson, of Pennsylvania. 6 5 

The committee reported on August 6. The 
number of representatives at the first formation of 
the House, from each State, was definitely fixed. The 
legislature was empowered to regulate the number 



•2 Elliott. V., 317-8. « 3 Ibid.. 3: 

' « Ibid., 357. s 5 Ibid., 362-3. 



»3" 



36 The Elements of Discord 

of representatives by the number of inhabitants, 
according to provisions hereinafter made. The three- 
fifths rule as to slaves was made the basis of appor- 
tionment for direct taxation. It was provided that — 

"No tax or duty shall be laid by the legislature on articles 
exported from any State; nor on the migration or importation 
of such persons as the several States shall think proper to 
admit; nor shall such migration or importation be prohibited." 

Which sanctioned the slave trade and made it 
free of duties or tax of any kind. 6 6 

Up to this time there had been nothing said 
about run-a-way slaves, or "fugitives from labor" 
and the committee's report was silent on that subject. 

Mr. Williamson, of North Carolina, moved to 
strike out "according to the provisions hereinafter 
made" and to insert the words "according to the rule 
hereafter to be provided for direct taxation." 

Carried by the votes of New Hampshire, Connec- 
ticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Massachusetts, Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, 9; 
New Jersey and Delaware, no, 2. 

Mr. King said : — 

"The admission of slaves was a most grating circumstance 
to his mind and he believed would be so to a great part of the 
people of America. * * * In two great points, the 
hands of the legislature were absolutely tied. The impor- 
tation of slaves could not be prohibited. Exports could not 
be taxed. Is this reasonable? * * * If slaves are to 
be imported shall not the exports produced by their labor 
supply a revenue the better to enable the general govern- 
ment to defend their masters? * * * At all events 
either slaves should not be represented, or exports should be 
taxable." 67 

Mr. Sherman, of Connecticut, regarded the slave 
trade as iniquitous; but the point of representation 
having been settled, after much difficulty and delibera- 



i « Elliott, V., 376-7, 379. • ' Ibid., 391-2. 



The Elements of Discord 37 

tion, he did not think himself bound to make opposi- 
tion. 6 8 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris moved to insert "free" 
before the word "inhabitants." Much, he said, would 
depend on this point. 

"he never would concur in upholding domestic slavery. It 
was a nefarious institution. It was the curse of heaven on the 
States where it prevailed. * * * The moment you leave the 
Eastern States, and enter New York, the effects of the institu- 
tion become visible. * * * Proceed southwardly and 
every step you take, through the great regions of slaves, 
presents a desert increasing with the increasing proportion 
of these wretched beings. Upon what principle is it that the 
slaves shall be computed in the representation? Are they 
men? Then make them citizens, and let them vote. Are 
they property? Why, then, is no other property included? 
The houses in this city (Philadelphia) are worth more than 
all the wretched slaves who cover the rice swamps of South 
Carolina. * * * 

"Let it not be said that direct taxation is to be proportioned 
to representation. It is idle to suppose that the general 
government can stretch its hand directly into the pockets 
of the people, scattered over so vast a country. They can 
only do it through the medium of exports, imports, and 
excises. For what then are all the sacrifices to be made? 
He would sooner submit himself to a tax for paying for all 
the negroes in the United States, than saddle posterity 
with such a Constitution." 6 9 

Mr. Morris's eyes were opened at last, but too 
late. The Convention having come so near to an 
agreement, would refuse to throw aside their work 
and begin all over again. His motion to insert "free" 
before "inhabitants" was defeated 1 to 10, Pennsyl- 
vania, itself, voting no. 7 ° 

Messrs. Morris, Madison, Wilson, and Mercer, 
of Maryland, argued that the legislature should be 
allowed to tax exports. Messrs. Mason, Williamson, 
Gerry, that it should not. Mr. Sherman thought that 
to examine and compare the States in relation to 
imports and exports, would be opening a boundless 



• » Elliott. V.. 392. « » Ibid., 392-3. ' • Ibid., 394. 



38 The Elements of Discord 

field. He thought the matter had been adjusted and 
that imports were to be subject, and exports not, 
to be taxed. 7 x 

In other words, Mr. Sherman was weary of 
interminable discussions and anxious to reach a speedy 
conclusion, and he undoubtedly spoke for a large 
majority of the delegates. The provision that no 
tax should be laid on exports was carried by votes 
of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia 
(Gen. Washington and Mr. Madison, no), North 
Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, 7; New Hamp- 
shire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, no, 4. 

Luther Martin, of Maryland, proposed to vary 
the report so as to allow a prohibition or tax on the 
importation of slaves. 

"In the first place, as five slaves are to be counted as 
three freemen in the apportionment of representatives, such 
a clause would leave an encouragement to this traffic. In 
the second place, slaves weakened one part of the Union, 
which the other parts were bound to protect; the privilege 
of importing them was therefore unreasonable. And in the 
third place, it was inconsistent with the principles of the 
revolution, and dishonorable to the American character, to 
have such a feature in the Constitution." 

Mr. Rutledge, of South Carolina, said, inter al: — 

"Religion and humanity had nothing to do with this 
question. Interest alone is the governing principle with 
nations. The true question at present is whether the 
Southern States shall or shall not be parties to the Union." 

Mr. Pinckney: — 

"South Carolina can never receive the plan if it prohibits 
the slave trade. In every proposed extension of the powers 
of Congress, that State has expressly and watchfully excepted 
that of meddling with the importation of negroes. If the 
States be all left at liberty on this subject, South Carolina 
may perhaps, by degrees, do of herself what is wished, as 
Virginia and Maryland already have done." 72 

' ' Elliott, V., 432-3. » « Ibid., 456-7. 



The Elements of Discord 39 

Mr. Sherman, speaking for himself and the 
majority of delegates, as before, was for leaving the 
clause as it stands. He disapproved of the slave 
trade, yet, as the States were now possessed of the 
right to import slaves * * * and as it was ex- 
pedient to have as few objections as possible to the 
proposed scheme of government, he thought it best 
to leave the matter as we find it. He observed, that 
the abolition of slavery seemed to be going on in the 
United States, and that the good sense of the several 
States would probably by degrees complete it. He 
urged on the Convention the necessity of despatching 
its business. 

Col. Mason, of Virginia, vigorously denounced 
slavery and added: — 

"Maryland and Virginia have already prohibited the 
importation of slaves expressly. North Carolina had done the 
same in substance. All this would be vain, if South Carolina 
and Georgia be at liberty to import. * * * Slavery dis- 
courages arts and manufactures. The poor despise labor when 
performed by slaves. They prevent the emigration of whites, 
who really enrich and strengthen a country. They produce 
the most pernicious effect on manners. Every master of 
slaves is born a petty tyrant. They bring the judgment of 
heaven on a country. As nations cannot be rewarded or 
punished in the next world, they must be in this. By an 
inevitable chain of causes and effects, Providence punishes 
national sins by national calamities." 73 

Mr. Ellsworth, of Connecticut, said, inter al. — 

"Let us not intermeddle. As population increases, poor 
laborers will be so plenty as to render slaves useless. Slavery 
in time will not be a speck in our country. Provision is 
already made in Connecticut for abolishing it. And the 
abolition has already taken place in Massachusetts." 7 4 

Mr. Pinckney said, inter al. — 

"If slavery is wrong, it is justified by the example of all the 
world. * * * In all ages, one-half of mankind have 
been slaves. If the Southern States were let alone, they 



'« Elliott, V., 457-8. »« Ibid., 458. 



40 The Elements of Discord 

will probably of themselves stop importations. He would 
himself, as a citizen of South Carolina, vote for it. An 
attempt to take away the right, as proposed, will produce 
serious objections to the Constitution, which he wished to 
see adopted." 76 

Gen. Pinckney said, inter al. — 

"South Carolina and Georgia cannot do without slaves. 
As to Virginia she will gain by stopping the importations. 
Her slaves will rise in value, and she has more than she wants. 
It would be unjust to require South Carolina and Georgia 
to confederate on such unequal terms. * * * He ad- 
mitted it to be reasonable, that slaves should be dutied like 
other imports; but should consider a rejection of the clause 
as an exclusion of South Carolina from the Union." 

Mr. Wilson observed: — 

"if South Carolina and Georgia were themselves disposed to 
get rid of the importation of slaves in a short time, as had 
been suggested, they would never refuse to unite because the 
\ importation might be prohibited. As the section now stands, 
all articles imported are to be taxed. Slaves alone are ex- 
empt. This is, in fact, a bounty in that article." 7 6 

Mr. King, of Massachusetts, took the same 
view. 

Mr. Langdon, of New Hampshire, was strenuous 
for giving the power to the general government. 

"He could not with a good conscience, leave it with the 
States, who could then go on with the traffic, without being 
restrained by the opinions here given, that they will them- 
selves cease to import slaves." 

Mr. Rutledge said : — 

"If the convention thinks that North Carolina, South 
Carolina and Georgia will ever agree to the plan, unless their 
right to import slaves be untouched, the expectation is 
vain. The people of those States will never be such fools 
as to give up so important an interest." 7 7 

Mr. Sherman said it was better to let the South- 
ern States import slaves than to part with them if 



Elliott, V.. 458-9. ' • Ibid., 459. ' » Ibid., 460. 



The Elements of Discord 41 

they made that a sine qua non. He was opposed to 
a tax on slaves imported, as making the matter worse, 
because it implied they were property. 

Mr. Randolph was for committing, in order that 
some middle ground might, if possible, be found. 

On the question for committing: Connecticut, 
New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 
South Carolina and Georgia, aye, 7; New Hampshire, 
Pennsylvania, and Delaware, no, 3; Massachusetts 
absent. 7 8 

August 24, the committee of eleven reported, 
recommending the following substitute: 

"The migration or importation of such persons as the 
several States, now existing, shall think proper to admit, 
shall not be prohibited by the legislature prior to the year 
1800; but a tax or duty may be imposed on such migration or 
importation at a rate not exceeding the average of the duties 
laid on imports." 7 9 

Gen. Pinckney moved to strike out 1800 and 
insert 1808. Mr. Madison opposed the motion but 
it was carried 7 to 4. 

Weariness was becoming more and more apparent. 

Gouverneur Morris was for making the clause 
read at once: 

"The importation of slaves into North Carolina, South 
Carolina and Georgia shall not be prohibited, etc." 

Col. Mason was not against using the term 
"slaves," but against naming North Carolina, South 
Carolina and Georgia, lest it should give offence to 
the people of those States! 

Mr. Sherman liked a description better than the 
terms proposed, which had been declined by the 
old Congress and were not pleasing to some people. 

Mr. Clymer, of Pennsylvania, concurred with 
Mr. Sherman. 

The first part of the report was then agreed to, 
amended, as it now stands in the Constitution. 8 ° 

» > Elliott, V.. 461. ' • Ibid.. 470-1. • Ibid., 477. 



42 The Elements of Discord 

After some further debate it was finally agreed 
nem. con. to make the last clause read, — "but a tax 
or duty may be imposed on such importation, not 
exceeding ten dollars for each person." 8 1 

And now, after three months of strenuous debate 
over almost every line of the Constitution, which was 
carefully scrutinized before it was admitted in its 
final shape, on August 29, — 

Mr. Butler, of South Carolina, moved to insert 
after the clause respecting fugitives from justice: — 

"If any person bound to service or labor in any of the 
United States shall escape into another state, he or she shall 
not be discharged from such service or labor, in consequence 
of any regulations subsisting in the State to which they es- 
cape, but shall be delivered up to the person justly claiming 
their service or labor." 8 2 

And it was agreed to at once — no one objecting ! 

The springing of this motion just as the goal 
was in sight, for which all had been striving, and when 
all were tired out, was a masterpiece of parliamentary 
strategy. Cotesworth Pinckney, in urging ratifica- 
tion of the Constitution by South Carolina, said: 

"By this settlement we have secured an unlimited impor- 
tation of negroes for twenty years. The general government 
can never emancipate them, for no such authority is granted, 
and it is admitted on all hands that the general government 
has no powers but what are expressly granted by the con- 
stitution. We have obtained a right to recover our slaves 
in whatever part of America they may take refuge, which is 
a right we had not before. In short, considering all cir- 
cumstances, we have made the best terms in our power for 
the security of this species of property." 83 

South Carolina ratified the Constitution May 23, 
1788, but with the significant understanding that 
Congress "ought never to impose direct taxes, but 
where the moneys arising from the duties, imports, 
and excise are insufficient for the public exigencies, 



i Elliott, V., 478. » * Ibid., 492. « > Ibid., 286. 



The Elements of Discord 43 

nor then until Congress shall have made a requisition 
upon the States to assess, levy, and pay, their respec- 
tive proportions of such requisitions." 8 4 . 

On July 13, 1787, heretofore noted as an important 
date, 8 5 the Confederate Congress, then in session 
at New York, passed "AN ORDINANCE FOR 
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE TERRITORY 
NORTHWEST OF THE RIVER OHIO." This 
Ordinance contained the following important clauses: 

Sec. 14. It is hereby ordained and declared, by the au- 
thority aforesaid, that the following articles shall be con- 
sidered as articles of compact, between the original States 
and the people and States in the said territory, and forever 
remain unalterable unless by common consent, towit: — 

ARTICLE II. 

The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be en- 
titled to the benefits of the writs of habeas corpus, and of 
the trial by jury. 

* * * * 

No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property, but 
by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land." 

* * * * 

ARTICLE VI. 

There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude 
in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of 
crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: 
"Provided always, That any person escaping into the same, 
from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of 
the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed 
and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or 
service as aforesaid." 8 6 

Here will be observed the same hostility to the 
extension of slavery to the territories, or new States 
to be formed therefrom; the same consideration for 
vested rights, limited, however, to persons living 
in the original thirteen States; and the same unwilling- 
ness to have slaves or slavery mentioned by name 



|« Elliott, I., 325. «6 Supra, p. 33. 

'• Charters and Constitutions, Vol. I., 431-32. 



44 The Elements of Discord 

in a document of historical importance, that we noted 
in the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention 
— an entirely different body. 

It is probable that the discussions, attending 
the passage of this Ordinance through Congress, 
were what caused the expressions of apprehension — 
real or pretended — made by General Pinckney, Ran- 
dolph and Butler in the Constitutional Convention 
on the 12th and 13th of July. 8 7 

April 30, 1802, Congress passed an act to enable 
the people of the eastern division of the Northwestern 
Territory to form a constitution and State govern- 
ment, and for the admission of such State into the 
Union. The convention, assembled at Chillicothe 
for this purpose, was composed of thirty-five repre- 
sentatives, only two of whom were from the Western 
Reserve. 8 8 The boundaries of the State were fixed 
by the enabling act. The only other restriction 
upon the powers of the Convention to adopt such a 
constitution as might be agreeable to the majority 
is found in Section 5 : — 

"provided the same shall be republican, and not repug- 
nant to the ordinance of the thirteenth of July, one thous- 
and seven hundred and eighty-seven, between the original 
States and the people and States of the territory northwest 
of the river Ohio." 8 9 

This shows that the Seventh Congress of the 
United States was just as much opposed to the ex- 
tension of slavery to new States as the Continental 
Congress which passed the Ordinance for the North- 
western Territory, nearly fifteen years before. 

The Constitution, adopted by the Ohio Conven- 
tion, November 29, 1802, did two things which the 
Convention which framed the Federal Constitution 
was unable to do: 1. It apportioned representation 



• » Supra, p. 33. •• Charters and Constitutions, Vo. II., p. 1453. 

>• Charters and Constitutions, Vol II., p. 1454. 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 45 

among the several counties, on the basis of "white 
male inhabitants;" 90 2. It provided that: 

"There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude 
in this State, otherwise than for the punishment of crimes 
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted; * * * 
Nor shall any indenture of any negro or mulatto, hereafter 
made and executed out of this State, or, if made in the State, 
where the term of service exceeds one year, be of the least 
validity, except those given in the case of apprenticeships." 9 ! 

Article VIII of the Constitution further provided : 

Sec. 8. That the right of trial by jury shall be inviolate. 

Sec. 9. That no power suspending the laws shall be exer- 
cised, unless by the legislature. 

Sec. 12. That all persons shall be bailable by sufficient 
sureties, unless for capital offenses, where the proof is evi- 
dent or the presumption great; and the privilege of the writ 
of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in case 
of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it." 9 2 

February 19, 1803, Congress passed an "ACT 
RECOGNIZING THE STATE OF OHIO" and 

provided: — 

"That all the laws of the United States which are not 
locally inapplicable shall have the same force and effect 
within the said State of Ohio, as elsewhere within the United 
States." 9 3 

THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW OF 1793. 

After the Constitutional Convention had com- 
pleted its labors, and the delegates of a majority 
of the States had signed the Constitution and trans- 
mitted copies to the Confederate Congress and the 
Governors of the thirteen States for ratification, 
things went on pretty much as before, as regards 
fugitive slaves. If an owner pursued his run-away 
slave promptly, and caught him before he had gained 



>o Article I, Sec. 2, of the Constitution. Charters and Constitutions, II., 1455. 

• > Article VIII, Sec. 2. Ibid. p. 1461. 

• » Article VIII. Sec. 2. Ibid. p. 1462. 

• » Charters and Constitutions, Vol. II., p. 1464. 



46 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 

a settled residence in any northern community, he 
generally had little or no difficulty in carrying him 
back. There was, however, in the minds of the 
people of the free States an unwritten statute of 
limitation which barred the claim of a dilatory owner; 
and a slave who had settled and proved himself a 
useful and law abiding resident of such a community 
could not, as a rule, be retaken without considerable 
opposition. 

So, on February 12, 1793, Congress passed "An 
act respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escap- 
ing from the service of their masters" 9 4 which remained 
in force, without alteration or amendment, for more 
than fifty-seven years. It was, by resolutions of 
the Ohio Legislature, printed, with the Constitution 
and other laws of that State, in volumes 3, 8, 17, 
18 and 29, so as to advise all citizens of Ohio that 
that particular statute was part of the law of the 
land. 



s « Public Statutes at Large of the United States, published by Little & Brown, 
Boston, 1845, Vol. I, 302 to 305 inch Sections 3 and 4 read as follows: 

Sec. 3. And be it also enacted. That, when a person held to labour in any of the 
United States, or in either of the territories on the northwest or south of the river 
Ohio, under the laws thereof, shall escape into any other of the said States or terri- 
tory, the person to whom such labour or service may be due, his agent or attor- 
ney is hereby empowered to seize or arrest such fugitive from labour, and to take 
him or her before any judge of the circuit or district courts of the United States 
residing, or being within the State, or before any magistrate of a county, city or 
town corporate, wherein such seizure or arrest shall be made, and upon proof to 
the satisfaction of such judge or magistrate, either by oral testimony or affidavit 
taken before and certified by a magistrate of any such state or territory, that the 
person so seized or arrested, doth, under the laws of the state or territory from 
which he or she fled, owe service or labour to the person claiming him or her. it 
shall be the duty of such judge or magistrate to give a certificate thereof to such 
claimant, his agent or attorney, which shall be sufficient warrant for removing the 
said fugitive from labour to the state or territory from which he or she fled. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That any person who shall knowingly and 
willingly obstruct or hinder such claimant, his agent or attorney, in so seizing or 
arresting such fugitive from labour, or shall rescue such fugitive from such claim- 
ant, his agent or attorney, when so arrested pursuant to the authority herein 
given or declared; or shall harbor or conceal such person after notice that he or 
she was a fugitive from labour, as aforesaid, shall, for either of the said offences, 
forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars. Which penalty may be recov- 
ered by and for the benefit of such claimant, by action of debt, in any court proper 
to try the same: saving moreover to the person claiming such labour or service, his 
right of action for or on account of the said injuries or either of them. 

APPROVED: February 12, 1793. 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 47 

For the first thirty years, there was little litiga- 
tion over escaped slaves, or the cases were considered 
as too trivial to report. Pennsylvania, being almost 
surrounded by States where negroes were still held 
in bondage, — New York, New Jersey, Delaware, 
Maryland, and the "Pan handle" of Virginia — had 
the most troublesome experience of any, down to 
1840. The disposition of the Courts, at first, was 
to construe the statute strictly; and persons accused 
of obstructing claimants often escaped conviction, 
or punishment, on some technicality. A bad statute 
may remain on the books a long time if no general 
attempt is made to enforce it. 

There were objections to this law, both on the 
part of slave-owners and those who sympathized 
with the blacks. The former thought it was drawn 
too loosely and could be violated in many ways with 
impunity; the latter, that it was drawn so as to give 
a man, claiming ownership, summary possession of 
the alleged fugitive upon making, or producing an 
ex parte affidavit, and without any fair judicial test 
as to the status of the negro claimed. Where two 
different persons laid claim to the same piece of prop- 
erty the Constitution and laws provided for a trial 
by jury. The question of ownership could be raised 
in a suit against a person obstructing or hindering 
a claimant in retaking his slave, and the defendant 
in such a suit was entitled to a jury trial. But if 
there was but one claimant for a negro, the latter, 
being considered nothing but property, was given no 
chance to set up and prove a claim to himself and 
no right to a jury trial. 

Three cases decided in 1822, 1823 and 1824, by 
Bushrod Washington, a Justice of the United States 
Supreme Court and a nephew of George Washington, 
show a disposition to construe the law strictly. In 
the first, 9 5 a suit by a claimant, who had seized a 



• » Hill v. Low, 4 Wash.; 327. 



48 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 

negro and was taking him before a magistrate, against 
a person who objected to the proceeding and by his 
talk and actions caused an assemblage of people 
forcing the claimant to go out of his course and thus 
give the negro an opportunity to escape; — Judge 
Washington held; (1) that the claimant must prove 
to the satisfaction of the jury that he was the owner 
of the negro in question, or that he was the agent 
of the real owner, or he could not recover; and (2) 
that it was not a violation of the statute to hinder 
or obstruct the owner or agent in taking the alleged 
fugitive before a magistrate after the arrest, unless 
the negro escaped. A judgment in favor of the 
claimant for $500 damages was reversed. 

In the second 9 6 he denied the application for 
a certificate of ownership to a resident of Charleston, 
South Carolina, who had brought a slave with him 
to Philadelphia, kept him there as a servant for over 
ten months and then left him there when he returned 
to Charleston. He held the slave was not a fugitive 
from one State to another within the meaning of the 
act, and the owner could not reclaim him as such. 
The laws of Pennsylvania alone applied to the case, 
and under those laws the alleged fugitive was free. 

In the third case 97 the claimant of an alleged 
fugitive slave, Tom, after seizing him, taking him 
before a magistrate and securing a certificate auth- 
orizing him to remove Tom to Maryland, delivered 
him to a jailer at Doylestown, Pa., for safe keeping. 
The jailer took him into the jail yard surrounded by 
a wall nineteen feet high and locked him in there 
with other prisoners, while he went into the house 
to get supper. Tom's fears must have lent him 
wings, for he got over that nineteen foot wall and 
escaped. The claimant sued the jailer for damages 
for allowing the escape, and the case was tried to a 



•» Ex parte Simmons, 4 Wash., 396. 

•' Worthington v. Preston, 4 Wash., 461 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 49 

jury. Judge Washington charged the jury that the 
authority of the magistrate was limited to examining 
into the claim of the alleged owner and to granting 
him a certificate of ownership if satisfied as to the 
fact. The certificate was not a warrant for commit- 
ting the fugitive to jail and the jailer was under no 
legal obligation to receive him, by virtue of such 
certificate. 

The jailer was not liable as a bailee unless guilty 
of gross negligence. There was a verdict for the 
defendant. The judge said inter al; — 

"An attempt has been made in congress to correct these 
glaring defects in the act, without which correction the act 
is found to be practically of little avail; but the attempt 
has not as yet succeeded. As it now stands, the magistrate 
had no authority to command the gaoler in this case to re- 
ceive and safe keep the fugitive." 

But, as cotton, rice, tobacco, and sugar crops 
became more profitable, the slaves, by whose labor 
they were raised, became more valuable. While a 
slave, worth $200 or $300 at most, might not be 
pursued very energetically, one worth $1,000 or $1,200 
was much more liable to seizure by the owner, or by 
any one tempted by the prospect of a reward. 

The rise in price of negroes was largely due to 
the suppression of the African slave trade, and the 
consequent demand for native-born negroes, which 
could only be met by the border states. The sale 
"down South" of negroes raised in Maryland, Vir- 
ginia or Kentucky, proved a very convenient way of 
securing a little ready cash. The very thought of 
being sent to the rice swamps of South Carolina, the 
canebrakes of Louisiana, or the cotton fields of the 
Gulf States, filled the negroes with terror and the 
number of fugitives increased. Their prospective 
sufferings, if caught, appealed to the sympathies of 
humane men in the north, and there was a growing- 
disposition to aid their escape. The resentment of 
slave catchers, cheated of their prey, led to more 



50 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 

frequent prosecutions of those who in any way inter- 
fered with the chase. The courts became less rig- 
orous in their construction of the law and more in- 
clined to favor the claimant. Conviction became 
more certain and penalties more severe. This, how- 
ever, only increased the hatred of slavery among 
the masses in every free community, and we read in 
the charges of judges to juries, impaneled to try such 
cases, apologies for the law which the Courts must 
nevertheless enforce, and admonitions to suppress 
feelings and conscientious scruples which the judges 
confessed were quite natural and right. 

Chief Justice Tilghman, of the Supreme Court 
of Pennsylvania, said to be one of the most humane 
of men, told the jury in Wright v. Deacon, 5 Serg. 
& Rawle, 63, 

"Whatever may be our private opinions on the subject 
of slavery, it is well known that our Southern brethren would 
not have consented to have become parties to a constitution 
under which the United States have enjoyed so much pros- 
perity, unless their property in slaves had been secured." 

Mr. Justice Baldwin, of the United States Supreme 
Court, in the case of Johnson v. Tompkins et al, 1 
Baldwin, 571, tried in the Circuit Court, said to the 
jury:— 

"It is not permitted to you or us to indulge our feelings of 
abstract right on these subjects; the law of the land recognizes 
the right of one man to hold another in bondage, and that 
right must be protected from violation, although its existence 
is abhorrent to all our ideas of natural right and justice. 

"As a consequence of this right of property, the owner may 
keep possession of his slave; if he absconds, he may retake him 
by pursuit into another State; * * * he may arrest 
him by the use of as much force as is necessary to effect 
his reclamation; * * * taking care to commit no breach 
of the peace against third persons. But it is no breach of 
the peace to use as much force or coercion towards the fugi- 
tive as sufficies for his security, as without such force no 
slave could be retaken, without his consent. 

If this is unjust and oppressive, the sin is on the heads of 
the makers of laws which tolerate slavery, or in those who 
have the power, in not repealing them." 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 51 

The jury in this case brought in a verdict for 
$4,000 damages against persons who had obstructed 
the reclamation of Jack, who ran away from his 
owner's place near Princeton, N. J., and crossed the 
Delaware into Pennsylvania, and the Judge entered 
a judgment on the verdict, although the owner had 
succeeded, after some difficulty, in carrying off his 
slave. 

Mr. Justice McLean, in overruling a motion for 
a directed verdict for defendant at the close of plain- 
tiff's testimony in Jones v. Van Zandt, 2 McLean, 
596, said: — 

"The counsel for the defendant admit that, in a given 
case, the plaintiff has a remedy under the act of Congress. 
If this be so what have we to do with slavery in the abstract? 
It is admitted by all who have examined the subject, to be 
founded in wrong, in oppression, in power against right. 
But in this case we have only to inquire whether the acts 
of the defendant, as proved under the law of Congress, 
subject him to a claim for indemnity by the plaintiff." 

The case was then argued and submitted to 
the jury who brought in a verdict for the plaintiff 
and assessed his damages, for the escape of one slave, 
at $1,200. 

On a motion for a new trial the Judge gave an 
elaborate opinion overruling the motion. Among 
other things, he said: — 

"I was not prepared to hear, in a Court of Justice, the broad 
ground assumed as was assumed in this case before the jury, 
that a man, in the exercise of what he conceives to be a con- 
scientious duty, may violate the laws of the land. That no 
human laws can justly restrain the acts of men, who are im- 
pelled by a sense of duty to God and their fellow creature. 
We are not here to deal with abstractions. We cannot theor- 
ize upon the principles of our government, or of slavery. The 
law is our only guide. * * * If the law be wrong in 
principle or oppressive in its exactions, it should be changed 
in a constitutional mode." (lb. p. 616.) 

In Morris v. Newton et al., 5 McLean, 92, known 
as the "South Bend Rescue Case," four negroes who 



52 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 

had been living near Cassopolis, Michigan, for nearly 
two years, were captured Sept. 27, 1849, by the claim- 
ant and a party he had organized for that purpose, who 
placed them in a wagon and started south with them, 
without taking them before any judge or magistrate 
or securing a certificate of ownership. Passing through 
South Bend, Indiana, they halted a mile or two from 
the village for refreshments and were overtaken by 
the sheriff of the county who had a writ of habeas 
corpus to serve on the claimant. A crowd soon 
gathered numbering more than one hundred and forty, 
and the claimant returned with the negroes to South 
Bend. The judge, before whom the negroes were 
brought, discharged them, on the ground that the 
claimant had no right to take them out of the State 
where the arrest was made, but should have taken 
them before some judicial officer of that State or of 
the United States. Immediately after their dis- 
charge the claimant arrested them again under a writ 
issued under a State law of Indiana. The crowd had 
by this time become highly excited and to prevent 
a collision it was agreed that the negroes should be 
placed in jail for safe keeping. The next day (Satur- 
day) the streets were crowded with people, the greater 
part of whom were colored. Some had firearms and 
almost all had clubs. Many of them came from 
Cass county, Michigan. 

On Monday another writ of habeas corpus was 
allowed by the judge, and the plaintiff under the 
circumstances declined any further attempt to take 
the fugitives but said that his rights had been violated 
and he should claim compensation from those who 
had injured him. The fugitives were discharged by 
the judge and went off surrounded by a great number 
of colored persons. Suit was brought in the United 
States Court against a number of citizens, including 
the judge who discharged the fugitives. On the 
trial of the case, Justice McLean charged the jury 
inter al., — 






The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 53 

"The legal custody of the fugitives by the master being 
admitted as stated in the return on the habeas corpus, every 
step taken subsequently was against law and in violation of 
his rights. I deem it unnecessary to inquire into the pro- 
cedure subsequently. It was wholly without authority. 
The forms of law assumed afford no protection to any one. 
The slaves were taken from the legal custody of their master, 
and he thereby lost their services." (Ibid. p. 101.) 

"Every person of the large crowd in the court-house, or out 
of it, who aided, by words or actions, the movement which 
resulted in the escape of the fugitives, is responsible. On 
such an occasion, liability is not incurred where no other 
solicitude is shown by words or actions, than to obtain an 
impartial trial for the fugitives." (Ibid. p. 102.) 

"In these matters, the law, and not conscience, constitutes 
the rule of action. You are sworn to decide this case accord- 
ing to the law and testimony. And you become unfaithful 
to the solemn injunctions you have taken upon yourselves, 
when you yield to an influence which you call conscience, 
that places you above the law and the testimony. Such a 
rule can apply only to individuals; and, when assumed as a 
basis of action on the rights of others, it is utterly destructive 
of all law. What may be deemed a conscientious act by 
one individual, may be held criminal by another. In the 
view of one, the act is meritorious; in the view of the other, 
it should be punished as a crime. And each has the same 
right, acting under the dictates of his conscience, to carry 
out his own view. This would overturn the basis of society." 
(lb. pp. 104-5.) 

"It is expected that the citizens of the free States should 
be opposed to slavery. But with the abstract principles of 
slavery we have nothing to do. As a political question 
there could be no difference of opinion among us on the sub- 
ject. But our duty is found in the Constitution of the Union, 
as construed by the Supreme Court. The fugitives from 
labor we are bound, by the highest obligations, to deliver 
up on claim of the master being made; and there is no state 
power which can release the slave from the legal custody of 
his master." (Ibid. p. 105.) 

"If the law be unwise or impolitic, let it be changed in the 
mode prescribed; but, so long as it remains the law, every 
good citizen will conform to it. And every one who arrays 
himself against it, and endeavors by open or secret means to 
bring it into contempt, so that it may be violated with im- 
punity, is an enemy to the interests of his country. 

"The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff, for $2,850 in 
damages." (Ibid. p. 106.) 



54 Ohio from 1802 to 1851 

OHIO FROM 1802 to 1851. 

The Black Laws — The Three-Fifths Rule — Fugi- 
tive Slave, and Anti-Kidnapping Laws. 

During the first half of the nineteenth century, 
Ohio may well have been termed the "melting pot 
of the colonies." In no other State of the Union was 
the immigration from the original thirteen States 
so evenly distributed. To the Connecticut Western 
Reserve came settlers from all New England, New 
York, and northern Pennsylvania. To the east- 
central portion, comprising the counties of Columbi- 
ana, Stark, Wayne, Jefferson, Belmont, Carroll, and 
Tuscarawas, came settlers from middle and western 
Pennsylvania, including Moravians and "Pennsyl- 
vania Dutch." To Marietta and the Muskingum 
Valley came settlers from Massachusetts. All the 
rest of Southern Ohio was dominated by settlers 
from States in which slavery still existed when Ohio 
became a State — New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, 
Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. 9 8 

For a quarter of a century, the only political 
party in Ohio which had a State organization and 
any considerable following was the Democratic party, 
and its policy was shaped by men from these slave 
States. They showed no disposition, at any time, 
to ignore, or evade, the anti-slavery clauses of the 
Ordinance for the Northwestern Territory and the 
Constitution of Ohio. Indeed, the motive which 
actuated many of them in coming to Ohio, was the 
prospect of escaping from the evils of slavery and 
the degrading influences of a servile community. 



» 8 In taking the census of 1850, the first attempt was made to ascertain the 
nativity of the citizens of the respective States. This showed that 529,208 whites 
and 12,662 blacks, then residing in Ohio, were born in other states. New England 
contributed 66,032; New York, 83,979; New Jersey, 23,532; Pennsylvania. 200,634 
Virginia, 85,762; Maryland, 36,698; Kentucky, 13,829; and all other States, 
31,404. As many of the early settlers had died and many had passed on to other 
States in the West or Southwest, this is but an imperfect showing of the com- 
mingling of the people in the first State of the Central West. 



Ohio from 1802 to 1851 55 

They brought with them, however, their natural 
antipathy to the black race; their inability to recog- 
nize as man any person covered with a colored skin; 
their consequent unwillingness to grant him the rights 
of citizenship; and their settled conviction that, 
with few exceptions, negroes were only fit for slaves, 
and should be used as such wherever their labor was 
profitable and masters could be found willing to take 
the trouble of supporting them and forcing them to 
work. They soon made it apparent that negroes, 
bond or free, were not wanted in Ohio. 

January 5, 1804, the Legislature passed "AN 
ACT TO REGULATE BLACK AND MULATTO 
PERSONS," 9 9 by the terms of which, no such per- 
son was permitted to settle, or reside in the State, 
unless he should first produce a certificate from some 
Court within the United States of his actual freedom, 
and residents were prohibited from employing any 
black or mulatto person unless he had such certifi- 
care "under pain of forfeiting and paying any sum 
not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars * * * 
for every such offence, one half thereof for the use 
of the informer." Any person harbouring or secret- 
ing any black or mulatto person, the property of any 
person whatever, or in any wise hindering or obstruct- 
ing the owner in retaking his black or mulatto servant 
or servants was liable to the same penalty. Any 
person claitning that any black or mulato person 
was his property, on making satisfactory proof of 
ownership, before any associate justice, or justice of 
the peace within the State, was entitled to a warrant 
directing the sheriff or constable to arrest such black 
or mulatto person and deliver him to the claimant. 
To prevent kidnapping, any person who should 
attempt to remove any black or mulatto person 
from this State without proving property was liable, 
on conviction, to forfeit and pay $1,000, one half to 



»» Ohio Laws, II, 63 to 66 incl.; reprinted in O. L., VIII, 489 to 492 incl. 



56 Ohio from 1802 to 1851 

the use of the informer and the other half to the use 
of the State and moreover should be liable to the 
action of the party injured. 

This act was followed by another, January 25, 
1807 10 ° reenacted and reprinted in 1811, and again 
in 1816, 1824 and 1831, making the additional re- 
quirement that no negro or mulatto should be per- 
mitted to emigrate into and settle within this State 
unless he should 

"within twenty days thereafter enter into bond with two or 
more sureties, in the penal sum of $500 * * * con- 
ditioned for the good behavior of such negro or mulatto, and 
moreover to pay for the support of such person in case he, 
she, or they should thereafter be found within any township 
in this State, unable to support themselves." 

Any person employing, harboring, or concealing 
any such negro contrary to the provisions of this act 
shall forfeit and pay not exceeding $100 — one half 
to the informer and the other half for the use of the 
poor of the township in which such person may reside. 
This act further provided: — 

"Sec. 4. * * * That no black or mulatto person or 
persons shall hereafter be permitted to be sworn or give 
evidence in any court of record, or elsewhere, in this State, in 
any cause depending, or matter of controversy, where either 
party to the same is a white person, or in any prosecution 
which shall be instituted in behalf of this State against any 
white person." 

These laws were not repealed until February 10, 
1849 101 when Townshend, of Lorain, and Morse, of 
Painesville, at the head of thirteen Free Soilers from 
the Western Reserve, held the balance of power in 
the House of Representatives. The Democrats and 
Whigs, elected to this General Assembly, were so 
nearly equal in numbers that neither could command 
a quorum without the Free Soilers. The latter, con- 



■oo O. L. V., 53-4; O. L., IX, 109-111 incl.; O. L., XXII. 334-5; O. L., XXIX. 
4401. 

>«« 0. L., XLVII. 17-18. 



Ohio from 1802 to 1851 57 

scious of their power and determined to use it to 
advance the cause they had at heart, refused to join 
with either until certain demands were complied with. 
Townshend dickered with the Democrats, and Morse, 
with the Whigs. Both demanded the repeal of the 
"Black Laws," and some suitable provision for the 
education of the colored children. Townshend de- 
manded of the Democrats the election of Salmon 
P. Chase as United States Senator, and Morse de- 
manded the election of Joshua R. Giddings. The 
first party to yield to these demands would receive 
the support of the Free Soilers. Amid storms of 
obloquy and the passionate outcries of their fellow 
members and the Press throughout the State, they 
held to their purpose for weeks. It was, perhaps, 
the most exciting session the Ohio Legislature ever 
held. At last the Democrats, many of whom were 
so-called Free Democrats, opposed to the further 
extension of slavery, came to terms, and the House 
was organized by the election of a Democratic Speaker 
and other officers. Salmon P. Chase was sent to the 
United States Senate and the Black Laws were re- 
pealed. l ° 2 It is a commentary on the courage of 
the Democratic politicians that this repeal is hidden 
away in the 6th section of an Act "To authorize the 
establishment of separate schools for the education 
of colored children," and nothing in the table of acts 
passed, or the "Index" to the volume of statues would 
give one an inkling that such a repeal had been effected. 
This same section reveals the existence of another 
Black Law, passed February 9, 1831, 103 which was 
not repealed. It appears as a "joker" in Section 2 
of "AN ACT relating to Juries." By this section, 
clerks of the courts of common pleas in their respec- 
tive counties are required "on the first Monday of 
September next, and on the first Monday of Septem- 



102 Warden, Life of Salmon P. Chase, pp 320, 321, 322. 
108 O. L.. XXIX. cm. 



58 Ohio from 1802 to 1851 

ber annually thereafter [to] cause the proportion 
of jurors to be ascertained from the number of white 
male inhabitants of the age of twenty -one," etc. The 
further duties of the clerks are prescribed in minute 
detail. Black and mulatto persons are nowhere men- 
tioned in the act; but the act is so drawn that none 
but white persons could be placed in the jury box. 

But the blacks were handicapped in many other 
ways. While their property was liable to taxation 
for all public purposes they had no voice in deter- 
mining how public funds should be expended. The 
Constitution and laws limited the franchise to "white 
male inhabitants above twenty -one years of age." l ° 4 
They were not allowed to gain a "legal settlement" 
in any townships of the State so as to receive any 
benefit from the poor laws. * ° 5 No relaxation of 
this rule was permitted until March 14, 1853, x ° 6 
when Sec. 2 of "AN ACT For the relief of the poor," 
declared — 

"That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to enable 
any black or mulatto person to gain a legal settlement in 
this State. Provided that nothing in this section shall be 
so construed as to prevent the directors of any county or 
city infirmary in their discretion from admitting any black 
or mulatto person into said infirmary." 

The Legislature passed many laws for the or- 
ganization and maintenance of common schools, but 
the benefits of such schools were expressly limited 
to white unmarried persons between the ages of five 
and twenty -one. 1 ° 7 The children of black and mu- 
latto persons would seem to be excluded by necessary 
inference from attending public schools; but, that 
there might be no room for doubt or evasion, the 



io« Charters y Constitutions, II, 1455; Ohio Laws, I, 72; V, 55; XXV, 16; 
XXIX. 428; XXX, s; XXXIII. 356; XLII, 3; XLIX. 109. 

■ ' O. L.. V, 53; IX, 109; XXVII, 54; XXIX, 320. 

>o.O. L.. LI, 469. 

10' O. L.. XXIII, ; XXVII. 33. 35; Ibid.. 72; XXIX. 414; XXXIL 

25; XXXIV. 19, 31; XXXVI, 21. 



Ohio from 1802 to 1851 59 

Legislature in an act passed in February, 1829, x ° 8 
"for the support and better regulation of Common 
Schoools" used this language: — 

"Provided; That nothing in this act contained shall be so 
construed as to permit black or mulatto persons to attend 
the schools hereby established," etc. 

A show of fairness was made in these acts by 
provisions excepting the property of black or mulatto 
persons from taxation for school purposes, and ap- 
propriating taxes assessed on their property for the 
education of black or mulatto persons, but it was a 
hollow mockery. All other children could gain an 
education at public expense, no matter how indigent 
their parents might be. Colored children could gain 
no education unless their parents, who had almost 
no opportunity to engage in lucrative pursuits, should 
establish and maintain private schools, at their own 
expense. The blacks and mulattoes did not demand 
separate schools, or special instruction for their chil- 
dren; and the segregation of black and white children 
was not made in their interest. Their children could 
have been taught in any school and by any teacher 
competent to teach white children, without any 
additional expense to the public. If the segregation 
was demanded by the whites and was, as claimed, 
in the interest of the general public, it would seem 
to be only fair that the general public should bear 
the expense. 

The unfairness of saddling the cost of instruction 
in separate schools upon the blacks was made still 
more apparent by the passage of various laws provid- 
ing for the teaching of German, at the request of 
German parents, in common, or separate, schools 
established and maintained at public expense, and 
by teachers who must have qualifications other than 
those required for teaching in English schools. 



io. O. L., XXVII, 72. 



60 Ohio from 1802 to 1851 

The act of March 7, 1838 (0. L., XXXVI, 21 to 
37, inch) provided: — 

"Sec. 9. * * * That nothing in this act shall be so 
construed as to prevent any other language in addition to 
the English from being taught in the common schools, at 
the discretion of the directors." 

The act of March 16, 1839, (O. L. XXXVII, 

61 to 67, inch) limited the privileges of common 
schools to white children but provided: — 

"Sec. 6. That the directors shall have power to deter- 
mine what branches and language, or languages, shall be 
taught in their several districts: Provided, That branches 
taught shall be such as are generally taught in common 

schools. 

* * * * 

Sec. 18. That in any district where the directos keep 
an English school, and do not have branches taught in 
German it shall be lawful for youths in such districts who de- 
sire to learn in the German language, to attend at a district 
German school * * * and the same rule shall be adopted 
and privileges allowed in favor of those wishing to learn the 
English who reside in districts where the German language 
is taught, and so of any other language. 

* * * * 

Sec. 20. That it shall be the duty of the county assessors 
when taking a list of taxable property of the county, when he 
takes in the property of a black or mulatto person, to note 
the fact opposite to his or her name in the abstracts he makes 
out for the county auditor." 108 *. 

But what was to be done about such "tainted 
property" was not made clear in the act; although 
the Act of March 7, 1838, (O. L., XXXVI, 21), pro- 
vided that; 

"If any tax for school purposes shall be levied on the prop- 
erty of any black or mulatto person it shall be the duty of 
the county treasurer or other person charged with the col- 
lection of the same to abate said tax." 



i os » The extent to which German schools and the study of German in English 
common schools was fostered by the Ohio legislature — all at public expense — may 
be appreciated by a study of the following acts: — Ohio Laws, XL, 52; XLV, 26-7; 
XLVII, 22-26; LI, 506; and LVIII. 90-1. 



Ohio from 1802 to 1851 61 

Common school education seems to have been 
a fascinating subject for Ohio legislators, for acts 
were passed nearly every year for revising, amending, 
or repealing former acts regulating the schools, or 
making entirely new provisions. Sometimes the acts 
authorizing levies of taxes for school purposes, ex- 
cepted property owned by blacks and mulattoes, 
and sometimes they did not. It was too much trouble 
for the average county official to ascertain just what 
real estate and other property belonged to blacks 
and what did not, and just what law applied. It 
was inconvenient to use two different rates in figuring 
out the taxes which the respective classes — black 
and white — should pay; and so, in practice, the blacks 
generally paid their full proportion of the school 
taxes and derived no benefit whatever from the schools. 
This abuse of the color line became so notorious 
that the Whig legislature of 1838 adopted a "RESO- 
LUTION, Relating to School Taxes, improperly paid 
by black and mulatto persons" 109 as follows: — 

"Whereas, by an act of the General Assembly of the State 
of Ohio, passed March 10th, 1831, entitled 'An act to provide 
for the support and better regulation of Common Schools,' 
the property of black and mulatto persons was exempted 
from taxation for school purposes, and by the same act, the 
children of such persons were prohibited from a participa- 
tion in the school fund raised under the provisions of this 
act, and consequently denied the privileges and benefits 
arising from our common school system: And, whereas, it 
is represented to this General Assembly, that, in many of the 
counties in this State, taxes have been collected for school 
purposes, of such black and mulatto persons, since the 
passage of the above mentioned act, contrary to its true 
meaning and intent, as well as justice and equity: Therefore, 
Resolved * * *, That the auditors of the several counties 
in this State, be required to examine the tax duplicates of 
their respective counties, each year since the passage of the 
above mentioned act, and ascertain the amount of tax thus 
collected from black and mulatto persons each year, for school 
purposes, and cast the interest on the same annually, and 



'•O. L., XXXVI, 412-13. 



62 Ohio from 1802 to 1851 

report the amount of such tax and interest, thus collected of 
such persons, and report the same to the Auditor of State on 
or before the first day of December next. 

"And be it further resolved, That the Auditor of State be 
required to report the same to the next General Assembly, 
within thirty days from the commencement of its session, 
to the end that the Legislature may have such action thereon 
as to it may appear just and right. 

March 13, 1838." 

There was a see-saw in politics about this time, 
and the legislative power passed from the Democratic 
to the Whig party, and vice versa, with almost every 
election. The legislature of 1839 was Democratic 
and nothing came of this feeble attempt to do justice. 

While there might be some show of reason in 
the law limiting the privileges of the common schools 
to the children of those who paid the taxes, if the 
rule was consistently applied and all those whose 
parents did not pay taxes were excluded, there was 
no basis, except racial prejudice, for distributing 
annually some two hundred thousand dollars arising 
from the proceeds of sales of "swamp lands" granted 
to the State, by Act of Congress, for purposes of 
education, among the several counties according to 
the number of white youth resident in each county, 
as provided by Section 3, of the act of March 7, 1838 * x ° 
and for making the schools supported by such public 
moneys free only to white children, as provided by 
Section 9, of the same act. 1 1 J Such funds were not 
raised, and such support to the schools was not pro- 
vided by white tax payers, and the rule for limiting 
benefits received to those who contributed to the 
fund could not apply. 

A small band of so-called "theorists," mostly 
from the Western Reserve in several successive Legis- 
latures, pressed home upon the minds and consciences 
of their fellow members the want of logic, of justice, 
of humanity, and of intelligent regard for the interest 



>>o O. L.. XXXVI. 2i ; XLIX. 40. '" Ibid.. 25. 



Ohio from 1802 to 1851 63 

of the general public, involved in the exclusion of 
colored children from the common schools and the 
absence of any provision for educating such children. 
At last the Legislature of 1848 was moved to pass 
"AN ACT for the establishment of Common Schools 
for the children of black and mulatto persons," l l 2 
etc. This provided: — 

Sec. 1. * * * That all such property belonging to 
black or colored persons, as is liable to taxation when owned 
by white persons, and the taxes thereon assessed be collected 
in the same manner as similar taxes are by the acts to which 
this is an amendment, a separate account of which shall be 
kept by the several county officals, and shall be paid out for 
the support of schools for black or colored persons in any 
district in which such schools may be organized; but in any 
such district in which the children of black or colored persons 
are permitted to attend the common schools with the children 
of white persons, then such fund shall be added to the com- 
mon school fund of the district from which it is collected, 
and paid over to the treasurer of said district on the order 
of the directors of said district. 

Sec. 2. That every city, incorporated town, or village, seat 
of justice or organized township in this State, containing 
twenty or more black or colored children, of any age, and 
desirous of attending school, shall constitute a school district 
for such children; and it shall be lawful for colored persons 
residing in such school district as aforesaid, to assemble 
and organize said district, appoint school directors of their 
own number, to erect and repair a suitable school house of 
their own, to procure suitable teachers, and in all respects 
for such purposes only, to possess the same powers, and enjoy 
the same benefits that are possessed and enjoyed by white 
persons, by virtue of the acts to which this is an amendment. 
* * * * 

Sec. 5. That in every city" [etc.] "containing a less num- 
ber than twenty black or colored children, desirous of at- 
tending school it shall be the duty of the school directors of 
any school district organized for the education of white 
children, to admit said black or colored children upon the 
same terms, and they shall be entitled to the same benefits 
as they would be if they were white * * * Provided no 
written objection be filed with the directors signed by any person 



u Ibid. XLVI, 8i to 83 incl. 



64 Ohio from 1802 to 1851 

having a child in such school, or by any legal voter of such 
district. 1 l 3 

Sec. 6. * * * [Where] "the white inhabitants will 
not permit them to attend said schools, and in all other re- 
spects be entitled to the same privileges, and governed in 
the same manner as they would be if they were white, under 
the acts to which this is an amendment, in all such districts, 
no black or colored person's property shall be taxed for school 
purposes. 

* * * * 

Sec. 9. That nothing in this act shall be so construed as 
to tax the property of white persons for the purpose of 
building school houses for black or colored children, or pur- 
chasing sites for such houses, or for tuition purposes con- 
trary to the wishes of such tax-payers. 

Sec. 10. * * * in no case shall the property of black 
or colored persons be taxed for the support of schools organ- 
ized to educate white youth, except as herein provided." 

A curious specimen of local option law, which 
put it in the power of one person in each school dis- 
trict, whether he had children of his own or not, to 
prohibit the education of colored children in that 
district, though all other persons in such district 
should agree that they ought to have it ! 

The next Legislature — the one that repealed the 
"Black Laws" and sent Salmon P. Chase to the United 
States Senate — embodied such repeal in a new "Act, 
To authorize the establishment of separate schools 
for the education of colored children and for other 
purposes." x 1 4 

By the terms of this act the school authorities 
of each incorporated township, city, etc., were: — 

"authorized and required respectively, in case they shall not 
deem it expedient to admit the colored children resident in 
any such township, city, town or village, into the regular 
common schools therein established, to create one or more 
school districts, for colored persons in every such township, 
city, town or village" — 

and to call a meeting of the colored tax payers of said 
district for the purpose of electing school directors 

1 1 3 Not italicized in the original. > " O. L., XLVII, 17-18. 



Ohio from 1802 to 1851 65 

for such district who should exercise the same powers 
in such district as were exercised by white directors 
in other school districts. Such districts were — 

"held to include for school purposes only the colored persons 
resident within its territorial limits and from and after the 
establishment of the same, the colored youth resident therein 
shall attend the schools organized under the directors of 
such district." 

The option of admitting colored children to the 
common schools, or excluding them, was, by this act, 
transferred from the solitary and possibly childless 
voter of a district, to the school authorities, who 
may be fairly presumed to represent the majority of 
the voters in such district; but in other respects it 
was hardly an improvement on the colored school 
law of 1848. Section 3, of the Act provided: — 

"no property of any colored tax payers within said districts 
shall be charged with any special tax for district purposes, 
for the benefit of the schools in any regular district, composed 
wholly or in part of the same territory; and no property of any 
white person in any regular district shall be charged any 
such tax for the benefit of the schools in any separate district 
composed wholly, or in part, of the same territory." 

In other words, the colored children could still 
enjoy only such schools as could be erected and main- 
tained by levy of a school tax on the property of 
black and mulatto residents of the district in which 
they lived. Under this act, however, the colored 
children were generally permitted to attend the com- 
mon schools on the Western Reserve and in many 
other portions of the State. 

Racial antipathy to the blacks was shown in 
many other public acts and resolutions. For instance, 
on January 29, 1818, the Legislature adopted a reso- 
lution (O. L. XVI, 198-9), reciting that — 

"Whereas a number of the good people of this State have 
by memorial expressed their most ardent wishes for the 
emancipation and colonization of the people of colour of 
the United States: Therefore 



66 Ohio from 1802 to 1851 

Resolved * * * That our Senators in Congress be 
instructed, and our representatives be requested, to use their 
best endeavors to procure the passage of a law which will 
effect the purpose aforesaid." 

On January 24, 1828, the Legislature (O. L., 
XXVI, 177),— 

"Resolved * * * That our Senators in Congress be 
instructed, and our representatives be requested, to use their 
efforts to induce the government of the United States to aid 
the 'American Colonization Society' in effecting the object 
of their institution which is so eminently calculated to ad- 
vance the honor and interest of our common country." 

On March 23, 1849, the Legislature adopted 
the following "JOINT RESOLUTION, relative to 
the oppressed people of color in the United States 
(O. L. XL VII, 395-6),— 

"Whereas, the people of color of the United States have 
been oppressed and enslaved, by the several States, and 
thereby degraded, and believing it to be the duty of the 
general government to do something for their elevation to 
that position nature's God designed for all men, therefore, 

Be it resolved * * * That our Senators be instructed, 
and our Representatives in Congress be requested to inquire 
into the expediency of procuring the passage of a law, au- 
thorizing the survey and appropriation of a portion of the 
territory acquired from Mexico, for the benefit of all free 
persons of color who may become actual settlers of the 
same, and a title of eighty acres of land delivered to each of 
said persons, free of charge, and also to establish schools, 
and provide for them a government for protection." 

On February 5, 1850, the Legislature passed a 
"RESOLUTION, Instructing our Senators and Rep- 
resentatives in Congress in relation to the independence 
of Liberia, and for other purposes." (O. L., XL VIII, 

714),— 

* * * to use their best influence to induce the general 
government to acknowledge the independence of the repub- 
lic of Liberia; that they also be requested to use all honorable 
means to induce the free blacks of the United States to emigrate 
to that country." l ' 5 

115 The italics are mine. 



Ohio from 1802 to 1851 67 

On March 23, 1850, the Legislature adopted the 
following JOINT RESOLUTION Relative to Colon- 
ization." (O. L. XL VIII, 713),— 

"Whereas, the settlement of the African coast with colo- 
nies of civilized colored men, is the cheapest and best plan 
of suppressing the African slave trade, being likewise calcu- 
lated to further the work of colonizing our people of color, as 
well as civilizing and christianizing the African race, which 
plan of suppressing the slave trade is true American policy: 
Therefore, 

Be it resolved, That our Senators and Representatives in 
Congress be, and they are hereby requested, in the name of 
the State of Ohio, to call for a change of National Policy 
on the subject of the 'African Slave Trade,' and that they 
require a settlement of the coast of Africa, with colored men 
from the United States and procure such changes in our 
treaty relations with other nations as will enable us to trans- 
port colored men from this country to Africa with whom to 
effect such a settlement." 

Such resolutions cannot be attributed to personal 
hostility to the blacks or a desire to do them harm. 
They were entirely consistent with a determination 
to suppress the slave trade, and strong opposition to 
the extension of slavery, and a disposition to secure 
its abolition whenever that could be effected by moral 
suasion, or constitutional laws; but they indicated 
clearly that the majority of the people of Ohio hoped 
and desired that the blacks should not continue to 
dwell among them. 

When North Carolina first proposed an amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the United States empower- 
ing Congress to pass a law to prevent further importa- 
tion of slaves or people of colour into the United 
States, x 1 6 the Ohio Legislature resolved, February 
22, 1805, (O. L. III., 471-2) that — 

"as that period will shortly arrive, when Congress will possess 
the power to act as they may think proper on this subject; 
and notwithstanding that this inhuman practice is impolitic 
in the extreme, and altogether repugnant to the principles 



1 « » North Carolina Laws. 



68 Ohio from 1802 to 1851 

on which our government is founded, yet, as it was a mutual 
agreement between the states forming the federal compact, 
that Congress should not possess the power of preventing 
any of the states, then existing, from carrying on a traffic 
of this kind for a given period." — 

such proposed amendment was inexpedient at 
that time; but also resolved that the senators and 
representatives from Ohio be requested to use their 
best endeavors to have a law passed laying a tax of ten 
dollars on every slave imported into the United States, 
and also to prohibit their importation into any of 
the territories thereof. On December 25, 1806, how- 
ever, the Legislature adopted a "Resolution requesting 
our senators and representatives in Congress to use 
their exertions to procure the passage of a law, pro- 
hibiting the importation of slaves into the United 
States or the territories thereof * * * so soon 
as the constitution will admit of the same." 1 1 7 

In 1804, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a 
resolution instructing their Senators in Congress to 
take all proper measures to obtain an amendment 
* * * so that representatives may be appor- 
tioned among the several States according to the 
number of their free inhabitants respectively, and 
requested the legislatures of other States — Ohio in- 
cluded — to take similar action. 

On December 26, 1804, the Ohio Legislature 
adopted a resolution (O. L., Ill, 466-7), reciting, 
among other things: — 

"that the constitution of the United States, in some of its 
leading features, is the result of compromise and mutual 
balancing of interests between the several States, particularly 
that clause which admits a partial representation of slaves; 
that the inequality of representation complained of * * * 
does not exist at present; and that to interfere, at this time, 
with that part of the constitution which may be viewed as 
securing privileges to particular States, would tend to excite 
State jealousies, destroy that confidence and good under- 



• ' O. L., V. 142 



Ohio from 1802 to 1851 69 

standing which now prevails, and endanger the union of 
the States, Therefore, 

Resolved, That the said amendment to the Constitution 
of the United States, is inexpedient, and does not meet the 
approbation of this legislature." 

In 1815, Massachusetts and Connecticut pro- 
posed seven amendments to the constitution of the 
United States and among them: — 

1st. Representatives and direct taxes shall be appor- 
tioned among the several States which may be included within 
this Union, according to their respective numbers of free 
persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, 
and excluding Indians, not taxed, and all other persons." 

On January 17, 1916, the Ohio Legislature — 

"Resolved, uananimously, * * * That it is inconsistent 
with good policy to adopt the said amendments, and that 
this general assembly do not concur therein." l x 8 

By such resolutions of State legislatures and the 
obiter dicta of judges, in cases which had nothing to 
do with the apportionment of taxes or representation 
among the several States, the ''three-fifths rule" 
came to be invested with a peculiar sanctity which 
protected it from amendment, although there is not a 
word in the Constitution itself which exempts it from 
the liability to amendment which attaches, with two 
exceptions, to every other provision. Article V, of 
the Constitution, which authorizes amendments and 
prescribes the steps necessary to be taken to validate 
them, contains this proviso: — 

"Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior 
to the year one thousand and eight hundred and eight shall 
in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth 
Section of the First Article; and that no State without its 
Consent shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Sen- 
ate." 119 

On the familiar principle, expressio unius, ex- 
clusio alterius, any amendment to the first clause of 



8 O. L., XIV., 460-1. m Charters y Constitutions, I., 19. 



70 Ohio from 1802 to 1851 

the ninth section of the first article could be made at 
any time after January 1, 1908. The wording of 
the entire article shows that the Convention knew 
how to make any provision immune against amend- 
ment, either temporarily, or for all time. The fact 
that no such provision was made with regard to the 
three-fifths rule demonstrates that the ability to 
amend that rule was just as much a part of the com- 
promise as the rule itself. 

The same may be said of the Article in the United 
States Constitution providing for the reclamation 
of fugitives from labor. The Ordinance for the Gov- 
ernment of the Northwestern Territory, enacted more 
than two months prior to the signing of the Con- 
stitution by the delegates from the several States, 
recited that certain Articles should "be considered 
as articles of compact, between the original States 
and the people and States in the said territory, and 
forever remain unalterable unless by common consent. 1 2 ° 

Article VI provided: — 

"That any person escaping into the same, from whom 
labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original 
States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed 
to the persons claiming his or her labor as aforesaid." ' 2 1 

It was contended by persons, who wished to in- 
troduce slaves into the Indiana Territory after Ohio 
had become a State of the Union, that this Ordinance, 
being merely a Congressional enactment, could be 
altered, amended or repealed by any subsequent Con- 
gress, and therefore that the recital that it should 
"forever remain unalterable unless by common con- 
sent" was a brutum fulmen. In December, 1805, a 
petition was presented to Congress praying for a 
suspension of the first part of Article VI, "There 
shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude 
in the said territory" etc., and on February 14, 1806, 



no Charters fcf Constitutions, I., 431. 1J1 Ibid., 432. 



Ohio from 1802 to 1851 71 

the committee of the House of Representatives to 
whom the petition was referred, reported in favor of 
granting it. No action having been taken by that 
Congress, William Henry Harrison, Governor of the 
Territory, transmitted certain resolutions which he 
said had been unanimously adopted by the Territorial 
Council and House of Representatives, in favor of 
suspending the obnoxious anti-slavery clause. This 
communication was laid before the House of Repre- 
sentatives by the Speaker, January 20, 1807. A 
committee of the House, to whom they were referred, 
again reported favorably and the House passed a 
bill suspending the prohibition of slavery, but it 
failed in the Senate. It seemed that no one in the 
Northwestern Territory, or in Congress, regarded 
Article VI as "forever unalterable;" and, if the first 
clause could be suspended, or set aside, by a mere 
Act of Congress and the consent of the Territorial 
Legislature, the proviso relating to the reclamation 
of fugitives from labor could also be suspended or 
set aside. Anti-slavery men in Ohio could well afford 
to accept the reasoning and conclusions of the pro- 
slavery men, but for one stubborn fact. The Con- 
stitution of the United States had been adopted 
after the Ordinance of 1787, and had become the 
supreme law of the land. This Constitution con- 
tained a provision for the reclamation of fugitives 
from labor; it did not contain a prohibition of slavery 
within the bounds of the Northwestern Territory, 
or any of the States organized therein. 

The Constitution of Ohio, adopted November 
29, 1802, provided:— 

"ARTICLE VII 

"Sec. 5. * * * But no alteration of this constitution 
shall take place, so as to introduce slavery or involuntary 
servitude into this State." 1 2 2 



Ohio Laws, I. Appendix, p. 16. 



72 Ohio from 1802 to 1851 

"ARTICLE VII. 

"Sec. 2. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary 
servitude in this State, otherwise than for the punishment 
of crimes." etc. x 2 3 

The act of Congress, known as the Fugitive 
Slave Law, passed February 12, 1793, was accepted 
as a part of the law of the land and reprinted in at 
least five volumes of Ohio Laws between 1804 and 
1831, as before stated. 124 The so-called "Black 
Laws" of Ohio were intended to conform to it, so far 
as they relate to the reclamation of run-away slaves. 
There seems to have been little difficulty at first in 
the enforcement of either; perhaps, because there 
was little occasion for such enforcement until the 
increase in the value of slaves and the steady demand 
for them "down the river." This condition of things 
resulted in more escapes from Kentucky into Ohio, 
more energetic pursuit, more attempts, by force or 
fraud, to carry off free negroes, and more collisions 
between slave catchers and white sympathizers with 
the persecuted blacks, whether fugitives or freemen. 

Kentucky, probably, lost more slaves by flight 
than any other State in the Union, because of its 
extensive northern frontier. 

In 1817, the Legislature of Kentucky adopted 
resolutions complaining of the States north of the 
Ohio river for not passing and enforcing laws for the 
more effectual reclamation of "fugitives from labor." 
To a letter of the Kentucky Executive transmitting 
a copy of these resolutions to be laid before the Legis- 
lature of Ohio, Governor Thomas Worthington re- 
plied, October 23, 1817:— 

"I can assure you, Sir, that so far as I am informed there is 
neither a defect in the laws nor want of energy on the part of 
those who execute them. That a universal prejudice against 
the principles of slavery does exist and is cherished, is 
to be expected, and that a desire as universal to get rid of 



'» Ibid., p. 22. l i * Supra, p. 46. 



Ohio from 1802 to 1851 73 

every species of negro population exists, is, in my opinion, 
as certain. The fugitive act is fully executed. You know, 
Sir, that the writ of habeas corpus cannot be denied, and 
that it too often happens that the proofs of the right of 
property are defective. Under such circumstances the 
judge must act according to the facts." ' 2 5 

On the other hand, Ohio had complaints to make 
of the operations of slave-catchers in her borders, 
and, on January 25, 1819, the General Assembly- 
passed "AN ACT to punish Kidnapping" x 2 6 directed 
at the lawless operations of these gentry. The pre- 
amble refers to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, and 
proceeds : — 

"Whereas, It has been represented to this general assembly, 
that upon pretence of seizing fugitives from service, under 
the provisions of the before recited act, unprincipled persons 
have kidnapped free persons of colour within this State, 
and sell them into slavery; and whereas it is necessary and 
proper to put a stop to this nefarious and inhuman practice: 
Therefore, 

Sec. 1. Be it enacted * * *, That if any person, or 
persons, under any pretence whatsoever, shall by violence, 
fraud or deception, seize upon any free black or mulatto 
person, within this state, and keep or detain such free black 
or mulatto person in any kind of restraint or confinement, 
with intent to transport such free black or mulatto person 
out of this State, contrary to law, or shall in any manner at- 
tempt to carry out of the state any black or mulatto person, 
without having first taken such black or mulatto person 
before some judge of the circuit or district court, or justice 
of the peace, in the county wherein such black or mulatto 
person was taken, agreeable to the provisions of the above 
recited act of congress, and then prove his right to such 
black or mulatto person, every such person so offending, 
shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor; and on convic- 
tion thereof before any court having competent authority 
to try the same, shall be confined in the penitentiary of 
this state at hard labour, for any space of time not less than 
one nor more than ten years, at the discretion of the court." 



» Mss. quoted in William Henry Smith, Political History of Slavery, I., 21. 
'Ohio Laws, XVII., 56 to 58 inch 



74 Ohio from 1802 to 1851 

This act was reenacted and reprinted in 1824 x 2 7 
and 1831. 128 

The more numerous, and the more valuable, the 
"fugitives" became, the more profitable the chase, 
and slave catchers became more and more reckless 
as to whom they seized and how they carried them 
off. They naturally preferred to avoid the delay 
and expense of appearing before Judges and justices 
with their prey and proving ownership in themselves, 
or their employers. They were very willing to act 
on the principle, "When in doubt take the trick." 
If they could get out of the State with a colored man, 
it would be easy to find or improvise an owner for 
him, even if he had never seen his "property" before. 

The extremes to which man stealers were willing 
to go in making gain out of the sale of human flesh 
is indicated in "AN ACT, To prevent the Forcible 
Abduction of the Citizens of Ohio," passed June 19th, 
1835, which provided: — 

"That any person or persons, who shall kidnap, or forcibly 
or fraudulently carry off, or decoy out of this State, any white 
person, or persons, with an intention of having such person 
or persons carried out of the State, unless it be in pursuance 
of the laws thereof; and shall be thereof duly convicted 

* * * shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
shall be confined in the Penitentiary at hard labor, for any 
space of time not less than three nor more than seven years, 
at the discretion of the Court; and shall, moreover, be liable 
for the costs of prosecution." 

On March 9, 1838, the Legislature passed the 
following "PREAMBLE AND RESOLUTION:— » *° 

"Whereas, It is represented to this General Assembly 
that Eliza Jane Johnson, a free woman of color, was lately 
carried by force, and without legal authority, from her 
home in Brown county, Ohio, into Mason county, Kentucky, 
on the pretence of being a slave of Arthur Fox, of said county 
of Mason, and though the said Arthur Fox disclaims any 



* ' O. L.. XXII., 338. '28 0. L., XXIX.. 442. 

• * • O. L.. XXXIII. 5. 1 »• 0. L.. XXXVI. 410-1 1. 



Ohio from 1802 to 1851 75 

title to said Eliza, she is still detained in confinement in the 
jail of said county: Therefore, 

Resolved, That his Excellency the Governor be, and he is 
hereby requested to open a correspondence with the Gover- 
nor of Kentucky, in relation to the illegal seizure and forcible 
removal of said Eliza Jane Johnson, from Brown county, 
Ohio, to Mason county, Kentucky, where she is detained 
in prison, and that he respectfully insist on the restoration 
of said Eliza Jane Johnson to the enjoyment of freedom and 
friends." 

The complaints of the Kentucky legislature de- 
rived some support from the fact, revealed by the 
United States Census Reports, that in 1810 there were 
but 1,899 blacks in Ohio; that in 1820 there were 
4,723; in 1830, 9,568; in 1840, 17,342, and in 1850, 
25,279. Of the latter more than half were born 
outside of the State. We must attribute much of 
the gain in the black population to immigration 
from slave States. Still, it would be far from just 
to say any large proportion of those who remained 
in the State were "fugitives from labor." Many, 
like the Langston brothers, were manumitted by 
their masters. Statistics are not available to show 
how many passed through the State on the "under- 
ground railroad," bound for Canada. 

On February 26, 1839, the Legislature passed 
a very elaborate "ACT Relating to Fugitives from 
labor or service from other States." : 3 1 The pre- 
amble recited among other things that: — 

"the laws now in force within the State of Ohio are wholly 
inadequate to the protection pledged by this provision of 
the constitution to the southern States of this Union;" 

As the Act of Congress of February 12, 1793, 
was a law in force, within the State and so recog- 
nized, the criticism extends to that also; but it was 
for Congress — not the Legislature of Ohio — to make 
good the deficiencies of that law. x 3 2 The Ohio law 
prescribed the mode of procedure to be followed by 



O. L., XXXVII, 38 to 43 incl. 1 « » Prigg v. Pennsylvaniea, 16 Pet. 539 



76 Ohio from 1802 to 1851 

the claimant of any alleged fugitive, and contained 
provisions tending to protect colored people from 
being spirited away by false claimants, without a 
hearing. For instance, the claimant was required 
to take the alleged fugitive "before some judge of a 
court of record in this State residing in the county in 
which such arrest is made'" and "no such arrest shall 
be made by any sheriff or constable of this State without 
the limits of his own proper county" No certificate 
of ownership "shall be deemed a sufficient authority 
for the removal of such fugitive * * * unless 
the official character of the officer giving the same 
be duly authenticated," by his hand and official seal. 
If the person so arrested and brought before the judge 
should file an affidavit that he does not owe labor or 
service to the claimant and that he believes he will be 
able to produce evidence to that effect, the judge was to 
give him time, not exceeding sixty days, within which 
to produce such evidence and meanwhile he would be 
committed to the county jail, there to be kept at the 
expense of the claimant, unless he could give bond 
in the sum of one thousand dollars with sufficient 
sureties, to be approved by the judge conditioned 
on his appearance at the time and place appointed 
for the trial and that he would abide by the decision 
of the judge who should try the case. 

The following provisions are of interest: — 

"Sec. 9. It shall be the duty of all officers proceeding 
under this act to recognize, without proof, the existence of 
slavery, or involuntary servitude in the several states of 
this Union in which the same may exist or be recognized by 
law." 

"Sec. 11. If any person or persons shall in any manner 
attempt to carry out of this State, or knowingly be aiding 
in carrying out of this State, any person, without first ob- 
taining sufficient legal authority for so doing, according to 
the laws of this State or of the United States, every person 
so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
upon conviction thereof shall be imprisoned in the peniten- 
tiary and kept at hard labor, not less than three nor more 
than seven years." 



Ohio from 1802 to 1851 77 

All of the provisions noted were reasonable and 
not in contravention of the rights of a real owner to 
reclaim a run-away slave really belonging to him; 
but, January 19, 1843, this last act was repealed 
and the second section of "AN ACT to prevent kid- 
napping," passed February 15, 1831, was revived. 133 
This action was brought about by the decision of the 
United States Supreme Court in Prigg v. Pennsyl- 
vania, at the January L term, 1842, ' 3 4 holding that — 

"The clause relating to fugitive slaves is found in the 
national constitution, and not in that of any State. * * * 
The natural, if not the necessary, conclusion is, that the 
national government in the absence of all positive provisions 
to the contrary, is bound, through its own proper depart- 
ments, legislative, executive, or judiciary as the case may re- 
quire, to carry into effect all the rights and duties imposed 
upon it by the Constitution. 

* * * * 

It would seem, upon just principles of construction, that 
the legislation of Congress, if constitutional, must supersede 
all State legislation upon the same subject; and by necessary 
implication prohibit it; * * * it cannot be that the 
State legislatures have a right to interfere." 138 

This decision was hailed as a welcome relief, 
on the part of the Ohio Legislature, Courts and Execu- 
tive, from all responsibility for the return of fugitive 
slaves and, thenceforth, no effort was put forth by 
either to assist claimants in recovering their alleged 
"property." What was done in that line, from 1843 
to 1850, was done through United States courts and 
officials. The acts respecting kidnapping remained 
in force. 



"0. L.. XLI, p. 13. 

n 16 Peters, 529 to 674 incl. »»« Ibid., 541. 



78 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

THE WESTERN RESERVE AND THE FUGITIVE 
SLAVE LAW OF 1850. 

In the Convention which framed the original 
Constitution of Ohio, two delegates were seated 
from Trumbull County, which was then co-extensive 
with the Western Reserve. This representation was 
based on an estimate that the population of the 
Reserve was about one eighteenth of the whole. 
From 1802 to 1850 the settlement of the Reserve 
proceeded more rapidly than that of most other por- 
tions of the State, and its representation in the State 
Legislature increased from one-eighteenth in 1802 
to one-tenth in 1820, two-seventeenths in 1830, 
two-thirteenths in 1840, and about one-sixth in 1850. 
The settlers, up to this time, were almost wholly of 
New England stock, even when their last point of 
departure was in New York or Pennsylvania. It 
was an enterprising, virile, intelligent and homo- 
geneous community of farmers with just enough 
millers, manufacturers, merchants and professional 
men to supply the local demand. The local laws of 
Ohio show the incorporation on the Reserve of schools, 
academies, institutes, colleges, libraries, literary 
societies, lyceums, etc., in proportion to population, 
far in excess of that shown by any other portion of 
the State. The colonists intended that their children 
should have the benefits of a liberal education. The 
parents themselves were generally readers of the 
county newspapers, and of weekly or semi-weekly 
papers 1 3 6 published in New York or Boston. The 
editors and professional men were readers of the 
Federalist and the Madison Papers. The Constitution 
was the subject of constant study and individual 
interpretation. 

One or more weekly papers were published at 



»'• The Independent and the Semi-weekly Tribune (Commonly pronounced 
Try-bune) had a wide circulation; but the latter lost favor in 1858 to i860 when 
it advocated support of Douglas by the Republican party. 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 79 

every county seat. The editors were generally well 
educated and took an active part in local politics, 
serving on State and county executive committees, 
attending political conventions, and often being sent 
to represent their respective districts in the Legis- 
lature. The typography and general appearance of 
their weekly issues might successfully challenge com- 
parison with any similar publications of the present 
day. The editorials were generally well thought 
out and well expressed, and the selection and arrange- 
ment of reading matter was calculated to interest 
and inform the readers about all political, religious 
and social topics of the day. It would be hard to find 
any superiors to the Western Reserve Chronicle, 
published at Warren; the Portage Democrat, pub- 
lished at Ravenna; the Mahoning Register, published 
at Canfield and Youngstown, the Ashtabula Sentinel, 
published at Jefferson, the Summit County Beacon, 
of Akron, and the Painesville Telegraph. 

One peculiarity of the population of the Reserve 
down to 1850 was that it contained almost no persons 
of foreign birth, until the building of railroads and 
opening of mines brought in numbers of Irishmen 
and Welshmen. In 1850, Cleveland had only 17,034 
inhabitants and nearly all were native born. Very few 
blacks were found on the Reserve prior to 1850. The 
following table shows the number of such people found 
in the respective counties at five successive censuses : — 

County 1820 1830 18W 1850 1860 

Ashtabula 4 11 17 43 25 

Cuyahoga 54 21 121 359 894 

Erie not organized 97 202 149 

Geauga 6 21 3 7 7 

Huron 7 7 106 39 79 

Lake not organized 21 38 36 

Lorain not organized 3 62 264 549 

Mahoning not organized 90 61 

Medina 14 12 13 35 38 

Portage 32 66 39 58 76 

Summit not organized 42 121 88 

Trumbull 50 43 70 65 80 

Totals 167 184 591 1.321 2,082 



80 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

The rapid increase of the black population in 
Cuyahoga and Erie between 1840 and 1850 was due 
to the growth of the cities of Cleveland and Sandusky 
and the opportunities for employment about the 
docks, railroad terminals, hotels and barber shops. 
The increase in Lorain County was due chiefly to 
the opportunities for obtaining an education, which 
were given to the blacks on the same terms as to the 
whites, at Oberlin. The increase from 1850 to 1860 
was mostly confined to Cuyahoga and Lorain coun- 
ties, and, in five of the twelve counties, there was a 
decline in the negro population. 

The interest of the politicians in such counties 
as Ashtabula, Geauga, Medina and Portage in all 
questions concerning the welfare of the black race 
seems to have been in inverse ratio to the numbers of 
such race found in their respective counties. 

The blacks were not numerous enough in any 
Western Reserve community to excite racial hos- 
tility. Attempts to awaken fears that their sons or 
daughters might marry negroes — so potent elsewhere 
— only provoked laughter on the Reserve. Abstract 
theories of right and wrong were not distorted by 
self interest. To the student and philosopher this 
was an advantage; but to the politician, in search 
of a sure foundation on which to build, it was a dis- 
advantage. Selfish interest exerts an influence over 
political and legislative action, far more persistent 
and powerful than any abstract idea. The success 
of slave owners in the South and of protectionists 
in the North, in controlling Congressional legislation 
and executive action for three quarters of a century, 
is a striking demonstration of this theorem. Down 
to 1826, people of the Western Reserve generally 
voted the Democratic State ticket, because there 
was no other. The Independent Democrat, of Elyria, 
the Portage Democrat, of Ravenna, the Jeffersonian 
Democrat, of Chardon, and many other "Weekly 
Democrats" were projected when almost all men 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 81 

were content to be called Democrats; and the pro- 
prietors saw no reason for changing the names of the 
papers and losing their good-will, when they ceased 
to adhere to that party. 

The people of the Western Reserve turned toward 
the Whig party, as they saw the Democratic party 
come more and more under the control of the slave 
power. They did not propose to interfere with slavery 
in any of the States where it was established, but 
they were opposed to its extension to any other States 
or Territories, and they intended to abolish it in the 
District of Columbia as soon as they had the power 
to do so. Their votes decided the State elections 
in favor of the Whigs in 1826, 1828, 1830 and 1836. 
In November, 1838, Henry Clay wrote: — 

"In Ohio, the x\bo!itionists are alleged to have gone against 
us [the Whigs] almost to a man." "The introduction of this 
new element of abolition into our elections cannot fail to 
excite with all reflecting men the deepest solicitude." 1 3 7 

They helped elect Corwin, Whig candidate for 
Governor, and Harrison, Whig candidate for Presi- 
dent, in 1840, but their apathy enabled the Demo- 
crats to win the State election in 1842. Ohio gave 
Clay, Whig candidate for President, a plurality of 
5,940 in 1844; but 8,050 votes were cast for James 
G. Birney, the candidate of the Liberty party. 

Our two party system has its advantages; but 
an element in both parties was becoming greatly 
dissatisfied with the dominating element. There 
were "Free Democrats" and "Independent Demo- 
crats" in the one, and "Progressive Whigs" and "Free 
Soilers" in the other — all opposed to the extension 
of slavery to new territory, to the annexation of the 
slave State Texas, to the war with Mexico, and to 
every effort of the slave owners to extend and national- 
ize their "peculiar institution." There was little to 
be gained by changing from one party to another, 



Schurz, Henry Clay, II., 163. 



82 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

and effective protests against the aggressions of the 
slave power could only be registered by throwing 
away votes. Henry Clay, personally very popular 
with the masses, made the fatal mistake of trying 
to hold the pro-slavery Whigs of the South in line, 
by a series of so-called "Alabama Letters" in which 
he announced that he should not object to the annexa- 
tion of Texas, provided, etc. It is not likely that he 
gained a single electoral vote in the South by his 
qualified acquiescence in annexation and it is certain 
that he alienated large numbers of the anti-slavery 
Whigs of the North who either did not vote at all, 
or voted for Birney. 

One of the popular campaign songs, sung by the 
"Hutchinson Family," at many political meetings 
on the Reserve, had this refrain; 

"Clear the track for Emancipation! 
Cars cannot run on a Clay Foundation." 

The 65,608 votes cast for James G. Birney would, 
if cast for Henry Clay, have given him a popular 
majority of 27,433, and an electoral vote of 146 to 129. 
Birney received 15,812 votes in New York State, 
one-third of which, if cast for Clay, would have given 
him the 36 electoral votes of that State and made 
him President. 1 3 8 

Birney's vote was an evidence of sheer despera- 
tion on the part of anti-slavery men and a warning 
signal that should have been heeded by those who 
were running the Whig party. 

The attitude of a majority of the people of Ohio, 
at this time, is shown by the election of Thomas 
Corwin, an eloquent and outspoken opponent of 
Texas Annexation and the Mexican War of Conquest, 
to the United States Senate, and by the "PREAMBLE 
AND RESOLUTION Relative to the annexation of 
Texas," adopted by the Legislature, January 17, 1845, 
in which the following langauge was used: — 

i a a McKee, National Conventions y Platforms. 56 and 57. 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 83 

"We do solemnly and earnestly protest against any pro- 
ceeding of the government of the United States or any 
branch or department thereof, having for its object the an- 
nexation of Texas to the United States. * * * fourth, 
because it would involve us in the guilt, and subject 
our country to the reproach of cherishing, sustaining and 
perpetuating the evils of slavery — fifth, because an union 
between the United States and Texas, with the guaranty, or 
understanding, that the whole or any part of the territory 
of Texas shall be formed into a state or states where slavery 
shall be permitted to exist, and where slaves shall be counted 
in determining the relative weight of such states in the 
Federal Union, would still farther extend the undue ad- 
vantage which the citizens of the slaveholding states have 
over those of the states in which slavery is not permitted." 1 3 9 

On February 8, 1847, the Legislature adopted 
Joint Resolutions demanding that Slavery be excluded 
from Oregon Territory and any other territory which 
may hereafter be annexed to the United States. 1 4 ° 

On February 24, 1848, the Legislature adopted 
"RESOLUTIONS Relative to the acquisition and 
control of foreign territory by the United States," 
in which the following language was used: — 

"Resolved * * * That whatever difference of opinion 
may exist as to the power of Congress to prohibit the forma- 
tion of slave States out of the territory belonging to the 
federal government, and entitled to admission to the Union, 
there cannot be any rational ground for such difference of 
opinion as to territory that may be hereafter obtained by 
conquest or by purchase" and — 

"Resolved, That the present war with Mexico was neither 
sought nor advised by the State of Ohio. * * * her citi- 
zens have been with the national flag, and have attested 
their devotion to it on many fields and through divers perils 
* * * She hereby protests by every drop of blood that 
has been spilt by her citizens, by every flag that has been 
enrolled from her borders, by the spirit of her sisterhood 
with the American States, that any territory acquired either 
by purchase or by conquest, as the result of this war, shall be 
national territory; and the State of Ohio must be heard, and 
will have a share in determining the character of the institu- 
tions by which such territory shall be governed." 141 



"O. L., XLIII, 437. 140 o. L.. XLV. 214. 1 « 1 O. L.. XLVI. 300. 



84 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

On February 22, 1848, a Whig legislature en- 
dorsed the course of Senator Thomas Cor win in 
opposing the Mexican War, and resolved, among 
other things: — 

"That the State of Ohio repudiates, as a libel upon the con- 
stitution of the United States, the degrading and pernicious 
dogma, which asserts, that when the nation is once involved 
in a war with a foreign country, no matter by what means or 
for that ends, it is the prerogative of the president to de- 
termine the purpose for which it shall thenceforth be carried 
on, and the measure of its duration. 

That congress does possess and may exercise the right to 
interfere with this kingly attribute, when asserted or claimed 
by the president; and that it can never be the duty of the 
representatives of the States and of the people tamely and 
submissively to bow to the dictates of executive will, and 
humbly to subserve its behests, by transcribing into the 
form of legal enactment the imperious requisitions of the 
President for supplies of money and of men." x 4 2 

On February 25, 1848, the Legislature adopted 
a "RESOLUTION Declaring that so much of the 
Ordinance of 1787 as relates to slavery, should be 
extended to the territory acquired from Mexico." ! 4 3 

On March 24, 1849, the Legislature adopted a 
JOINT RESOLUTION Relative to Slavery and the 
Slave Trade in the District of Columbia, instructing 
"our Senators and Representatives in Congress * * * 
to use all constitutional means for the abolition of 
slavery in the District of Columbia." 1 4 4 

It was this Legislature which was forced, by a 
few Western Reserve men, to elect Salmon P. Chase 
as United States Senator by the Democratic party, 
although he was not the choice of that party and had 
really acted with the Liberty Party in 1843 and 1844. ' 4 5 
The Western Reserve men w r ere again potent in elect- 



■ «* O. L.. XLVL, 299. 1*3 Ibid.. 314. »««0. L.. XLVII. 396. 

1 * 6 At a memorial meeting held by the Cincinnati Bar, after the death of Chief 
Justice Chase, Judge H. C. Whitman said among other things: "Standing as Mr. 
Chase there did, as the representative of thirteen delegates of a small portion of 
the State, representing as he did neither the Democracy nor the Whigs, neither 
party liking him, if it had not been for his manly course from beginning to end 
* * * he never would have been elected." Warden, Chase, 324. 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 18o0 85 

ing Benjamin F. Wade as United States Senator, 
in 1851, to succeed Thomas Corwin, who had not 
measured up to their expectations. 

These extraordinary achievements of a resolute 
minority of Ohio voters presaged a disintegration 
of one or both of the old parties and the formation of 
a third party which should be stronger than either. 
The process, which might otherwise have proved 
gradual was hastened by the so-called "Compromise 
Measures" carried through Congress in 1850 by the 
combined action of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, 
the two great leaders of the Whig party. 

The Democratic party had succeeded in their 
program of annexing Texas; of wresting from Mexico 
an immense tract of land between the Nueces River 
and the Rio Grande, which the Texans claimed but 
had never organized or occupied; of defeating Mexico 
in the war which ensued; and of acquiring from Mexico, 
by forced treaty, additional territory out of which 
have since been formed the six great States of Cali- 
fornia, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New 
Mexico, and all of which had been free from slavery 
under the law T s of Mexico. 

The avowed purpose of the administration in 
prosecuting annexation and war on Mexico was to 
acquire additional territory to be carved into slave 
States and secure to the slave power full control of 
the United States Senate with at least an even chance 
of controlling the House of Representatives. Texas 
was to be carved into four States and the rest divided 
as circumstances might require. 

This program was not at all to the liking of a 
majority of the Northern people, and every step 
was taken contrary to resolutions of protest in North- 
ern State legislatures and in spite of the determined 
opposition of northern members of Congress — chiefly 
Whigs. The Whigs had elected General Zachary 
Taylor their candidate for President in 1848 by a 
plurality of 139,557 in the popular vote and a majority 



86 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

of 36 J 4 6 electoral votes over Lewis Cass, the Demo- 
cratic candidate. The Whigs adopted no nationa 
platform, relying on the popularity of their candidate 
and the unpopularity of the measures set forth in 
the Democratic platform. They succeeded this time, 
but it was their last victory in national politics. The 
American voter with firm convictions, does not long 
remain attached to a party which has no principles 
which it dares avow. The "Free Soil" party nom- 
inated Martin Van Buren on a platform boldly de- 
claring: — "a common resolve to maintain the rights 
of free labor against the aggression of the slave power, 
and to secure free soil to a free people;" that the old 
parties had stifled the will of a great constituency 
and, "under the slave holding dictation," nominated 
"candidates neither of whom can be supported by 
the opponents of slavery extension without a sacrifice 
of consistency, duty and self-respect;" that "the 
entire history of that period," preceding and follow- 
ing the adoption of the Constitution, "clearly shows 
that it was the settled policy of the nation not to 
extend, nationalize, or encourage, but to limit, localize 
and discourage slavery; and to this policy, which 
should never have been departed from, the govern- 
ment ought to return;" "that in the judgment of 
this convention Congress has no more power to make 
a slave than to make a king; no more power to in- 
stitute or establish slavery than to institute or estab- 
lish a monarchy;" "that the true and, in the judgment 
of this convention, the only safe means of preventing 
the extension of slavery into territory now free is to 
prohibit its extension in all such territory by an act 
of Congress;" "that we accept the issue which the 
slave power has forced upon us; and to their demand 
for more slave States and more slave territory, our 
calm but final answer is; No more slave States and 
no more slave territory. Let the soil of our extensive 



McKee, National Conventions y Platforms, 71, 72. 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 87 

domain be kept free for the hardy pioneers of our 
own land and the oppressed and banished of other 
lands;" "that we inscribe on our banner, 'Free Soil, 
Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men,' and under 
it we will fight on, and fight forever, until a triumphant 
victory shall reward our exertions." * 4 7 

On this platform Van Buren polled 291,263 
votes— 120,510 in New York State and 38,058 in 
Massachusetts, largely contributed by dissatisfied 
Democrats, and 35,354 in Ohio and 10,389 in Michi- 
gan, contributed almost wholly by dissatisfied Whigs.* 4 a 
The Democrats retained control of the Senate by a 
majority of 8 over all, and the House of Representa- 
tives by the narrow majority of 5. x 4 9 

The growth of the dissenting element in both 
parties had its significance; but the whole scheme of 
the slave power was wrecked by the discovery of 
gold in California and the rush of men from the free 
States to that El Dorado. The greed for gold over- 
whelmed and defeated the greed for more slave terri- 
tory. No statesman could claim credit for this extraor- 
dinary and unforeseen emigration of the free to the 
newly acquired Mexican territory. And, as events 
proved, no political combination could long postpone 
the inevitabe consequences. 

Congress had been unable to pass any law for 
the territorial government of the newly acquired 
territory, or, in the language of General Taylor, "to 
substitute law and order there for the bowie knife 
and revolvers," owing to the insistence of Northern 
men upon the "Wilmot Proviso," providing that 
in all such territory slavery should be forever pro- 



1 * ' McKee, National Conventions y Platforms, 67, 68. 

148 Ibid., 71. Chase wrote in March, 1849, "In Massachusetts and in the 
northern counties of Ohio, the profound anti-slavery convictions of the people 
made it impossible for them to support national nominees without any declara- 
tion against the extension of slavery." Warden, 319. 

»*• Ibid.. 73. 



88 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

hibited. 1 5 ° So, immediately after his inauguration 
as President, Taylor sent a confidential agent to 
California to act with the military governor in pro- 
moting the formation of a State government. lbl A 
constitutional convention was assembled at Monterey, 
by order of General Riley, September 1, 1849, and 
after deliberating about six weeks completed a con- 
stitution, which was submitted to the people and 
ratified November 13, 1849, by a vote of 12,061 for 
to 811 against. This constitution followed closely 
those of the eastern and central western States and 
provided among other things: — 

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, unless for 
the punishment of crimes, shall ever be tolerated in this 
state." ! ~° 2 

The application for admission of the whole of 
California as a State in the Union, with such a con- 
stitution, was received by the pro-slavery men with 
consternation. The whole edifice built upon the 
annexation of Texas, the extension of its borders, 
the war with Mexico and the acquisition of more 
territory, for the purpose of extending slavery and 
securing the preponderance of the slave power in 
national affairs, was rudely shattered. The admission 
of the State, with its designated boundaries and free 
constitution, was violently opposed. All the sup- 
posed grievances of North and South were aired in 
the ensuing debate and nearly all the arguments 
of the pro-slavery men threatened, or predicted, a 
dissolution of the Union unless the Constitution 
was so modified as to give Southern men what were 
termed "equal rights" in the new State. By "equal 
rights" they meant the right of Southern slave holders 

>»» A motion instructing the committee on Territories to bring in a bill for 
organizing California and New Mexico with the least possible delay and exclud- 
ing slavery therefrom was made by Joseph M. Root, of Sandusky ,and carried 
by 108 to 8o. 

i" Messages of the Presidents, Vol. V., 27, 41. 

»»» Charters y Constitutions, I., 195. 196, 207. 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 89 

to take their slaves there and establish and maintain 
slavery. There was more passion than logic in most 
of the arguments. It did not seem to occur to them 
that Southern men could go to, and reside in, such 
a State just as every other man did or could — with- 
out slaves. x 5 3 

Calhoun's last speech was made during this 
debate. To meet the argument that California al- 
ways had been free territory and that the clause in 
the State Constitution prohibiting slavery was adopted 
without dissent, he formulated the dogma that, the 
moment the treaty with Mexico was signed, the 
Constitution of the United States, ipso facto, imported 
slavery into the newly acquired territory, and to 
exclude it, later, was a wanton violation of the rights 
of the South — by which he always meant slaveholders 
of the South. In order to give any plausibility to 
his argument he had first to import into the Constitu- 
tion of the United States a provision, which was not 
expressed in words, making slavery a national and 
not merely a local institution. As one of the debaters 
said, "In the estimation of John C. Calhoun the 
Constitution of the United States is a mere nose of 
wax to be twisted into any shape desired by the 
South." When he went outside of the Constitution 
to find support for his thesis he was met by a mass 
of contemporary argument and elucidation to show 
that slavery was in process of extinction everywhere, 
except in four or five Southern States, and it was 
confidently believed that it would soon be abolished 
in all except possibly South Carolina and Georgia. 

Judging from the arguments used by other 
Southern men, two other principles had become 
firmly imbedded in the Constitution, though not 



168 Senator Toombs declared that the Mexican law prohibiting slavery was still 
valid and would so remain; that Congress and not the courts must change the law. 
He demanded that what was recognized by law as property in the slave-holding 
States should be recognized in the Mexican territory. "We can permit no dis- 
crimination against our section or our institutions, in dividing out the common 
property of the republic." Stovall, Robert Toombs, 61-2. 



90 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

expressed in its language, or imported by Constitu- 
tional amendment. These were: — 

1. The line of 36 degrees and 30 minutes north 
latitude extended from the Mississippi River to the 
Pacific Ocean, and all States north of that must be 
free and all States south of that must be slave. This 
required that California should be divided by that 
line into two States, one free and one slave. This 
rested on the so-called "Missouri Compromise," of 
1820. 

2. No new free State can be admitted to the 
Union if that would give the free States a majority 
in the United States Senate. This rests, it was 
claimed, on uniform practice ever since the State 
of Vermont was admitted in 1791. 154 It is true 
that the Constitution was adopted by thirteen States, 
seven of which were, or soon became, free, and that 
the free States were in the majority after the admis- 
sion of Ohio in 1803, and it was nine years before the 
balance was restored by the admission of Louisiana. 
It is true that the slave States were in the majority 
after the admission of Arkansas in 1836, and again 
after the admission of Florida and Texas in 1845, 



161 The following table shows the order in which new States were admitted, 
the dates of admission and to which column, free or slave, they belonged. 

Name of State Date Free Slave 

Vermont 1791 

Kentucky 1792 

Tennessee 1796 

Ohio 1803 

Louisiana 1812 

Indiana 1816 

Mississippi 1817 

Illinois 1818 

Alabama 1819 

Maine 1820 

Missouri 1821 

Arkansas 1836 

Michigan 1837 

Florida 1845 

Texas 1845 

Iowa 1846 

Wisconsin 1848 

Totals 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 91 

and that it was three years before the balance was 
restored by the admission of Wisconsin. 

What a convenient Constitutional provision, 
which may, or may not, remain in force, as circum- 
stances may require! 

The "Missouri Compromise," which gave signifi- 
cance to the parallel of 36° 30', related specifically 
to the Louisiana Purchase and could ' j pro- 

longed, by interpretation, to the east or west of 
its boundaries. The South had already organized 
three slave States in the Purchase, south of that line, 
and but one free State had been admitted north of 
that line. 

There was, however, a cry from all parts of the 
South against the admission of California with a 
Constitution prohibiting slavery. Newspapers, legis- 
latures, and local conventions demanded that the 
right of slaveholders to take their slave property 
with them into all of the newly acquired territory 
be expressly recognized and secured. On the other 
hand, Northern Legislatures — Ohio's among them — 
newspapers and local conventions demanded the 
immediate admission of California with its free Con- 
stitution, and the organization of territorial govern- 
ments for all the rest of the land acquired from Mex- 
ico, with the Wilmot Proviso excluding slavery there- 
from. A call was issued for a Southern popular 
convention to be held at Nashville, June 20, 1850, 
to consider the interests of the South and take such 
action as may seem necessary, and open threats 
of disunion were uttered all through the South. How 
much of this was mere bluff and chatter, designed 
to force Congress to take action satisfactory to the 
slave interest, it is impossible to say. 

Henry Clay, however, was greatly alarmed and 
believed that, now if never before, extreme Southern 
men meant exactly what they said and that the 
Union was in imminent danger of being destroyed. 
He took into consideration all the complaints and 



92 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

demands made and arguments used by both Northern 
and Southern men and evolved a series of resolutions, 
intended to give some satisfaction to all and to call 
for such concessions on the part of each as could be 
reasonably hoped for in return for similar concessions 
by the other. These, with various other resolutions 
on the same general subject, were referred, April 18, 
1850, to a select committee of thirteen, with Clay as 
chairman, and such men as Daniel Webster and 
Lewis Cass from the North, and William R. King, 
James M. Mason and John Bell from the South. On 
May 8, 1850, the committee submitted a report 
consisting of three bills and an elaborate argument. 

To the North was conceded (?) the admission 
of California; but this was coupled with, and con- 
ditioned upon, the organization of territorial govern- 
ments in Utah and New Mexico without the Wilmot 
Proviso, and the fixing of the west and north boun- 
daries of Texas so as to exclude any part of New 
Mexico, for which Texas was to be duly compensated 
in money. The bill, combining these various meas- 
ures, was aptly termed the "omnibus bill' by Presi- 
dent Taylor. 

Another concession to the North was the pro- 
posed bill prohibiting the slave-trade in the District 
of Columbia, thus removing from the Capital one 
of the most odious features of slavery, though slavery 
itself was to remain until Maryland chose to abolish it. 

Another, wholly illusory, concession to the North 
was the declaration that the admission of any new 
State, or States, carved out of Texas should be post- 
poned — until some such State was organized and 
wanted to come in, when it would be the duty of 
Congress to admit it! 

In return for these concessions (?) to the North, 
the South was to be given a more effective law for 
the return of fugitive slaves, three new States to be 
carved out of Texas, and an even chance to make 
slave States out of New Mexico and Utah. 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 93 

The scheme, as a whole, satisfied nobody. Presi- 
dent Taylor agreed with anti-slavery men that Cali- 
fornia was entitled to immediate admission, without 
any reference to what was done with the rest of the 
territory acquired from Mexico. He thought the 
rest should be kept under military rule, until some 
portion had population and intelligence enough to 
do as California had done. 

President Taylor, who had gradually won the 
confidence of both Union and anti-slavery men and 
announced that he would suppress any attempts 
at dis-union, had a severe attack of cholera morbus 
after eating dinner July 4th, 1850, and passed away 
on the 9th. 154a His successor, Millard Fillmore, 
reorganized the Cabinet by appointing Daniel Web- 
ster, Secretary of State, Thomas Corwin, Secretary 
of the Treasury, and John J. Crittenden, Attorney 
General. Fillmore, himself, and every one of the 
new appointees favored the compromise. 

But it was not until August that it was discovered 
that by separating the compromise measures, the 
objectors to one or two might be induced to vote 
for the others and that a majority could thus be 
obtained for each, although the several majorities 
would be differently constituted. In this manner, 
every one of the measures passed the Senate, although 
in somewhat modified form. The fugitive-slave law 
was far more drastic than the bill reported by the 
committee. 

In September, all passed safely through the 
House of Representatives and the Union was saved 
once more. The North was thoroughly satisfied 
with the admission of California as a Free State, 
and the South, as thoroughly dissatisfied. The South 



154. The deaths of the two Whig Presidents, General Harrison and General 
Taylor, by similar intestinal troubles, just after it became apparent that they could 
not be controlled by the extreme pro-slavery men, created a strong suspicion in 
the minds of anti-slavery men that both had been maliciously poisoned, to make 
room for more yielding successors. 



94 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

was greatly pleased, and the North as greatly dis- 
pleased, with the Fugitive Slave law. 

The spectre of four new slave-States instead of 
Texas and eight new Senators instead of two from 
that region, was sufficiently disturbing to the North, 
but everything else paled into insignificance when 
attempts were made to enforce the new Fugitive 
Slave Act. The features which made this so obnox- 
ious to Northern people were, (1) that a small army 
of commissioners was to be appointed by the United 
States Circuit Courts who should have jurisdiction 
in all matters relating to the capture and removal 
of alleged fugitives; (2) that these commissioners 
were to receive a fee of five dollars if they decided 
that a claimant was not entitled to a certificate giving 
authority to take and remove the alleged fugitive, 
and ten dollars if he decided in favor of the claimant; 
(3) that these commissioners were authorized to 
appoint persons from time to time to execute such 
warrants as might be issued for the arrest of alleged 
fugitives; (4) that such impromptu officers were 
empowered to summon to their aid bystanders or a 
posse comitatus of the proper county, and all citizens 
were commanded to aid and assist in the prompt and 
efficient execution of this law whenever their services 
should be required; (5) that warrants issued by any 
commissioner should run and be executed by said officers 
anywhere in the State within which they are issued; 
(6) that any person having a power of attorney from 
a claimant, duly executed and acknowledged before 
some legal officer or court of the State where the 
claimant resided, was thereby empowered to seize or 
arrest the alleged fugitive, without process, and bring 
him before a court or commissioner of the proper 
circuit, district or county, whose duty it should be 
to hear and determine the case of such claimant 
in a summary manner; (7) that an affidavit of owner- 
ship under the seal of the proper court or officer, 
and another affidavit as to the identity of the person 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 95 

whose service or labor is claimed to be due and that 
he had escaped, should be sufficient to entitle the claim- 
ant or his agent to a certificate authorising him to arrest 
and remove such alleged fugitive to the State or Terri- 
tory whence he was alleged to have escaped; (8) "In no 
trial or hearing under this act shall the testimony of 
such alleged fugitive be admitted in evidence, and the 
certificates * * * mentioned shall be conclusive of 
the right * * * to remove such fugitive to the State 
or Territory from which he escaped and shall prevent 
all molestation of such person or persons by any process 
issued by any court, judge, magistrate, or other person 
whomsoever;" (9) "That any person who shall know- 
ingly and willingly obstruct, hinder, or prevent such 
claimant, his agent or attorney * * * from ar- 
resting such a fugitive * * * either with or with- 
out process as aforesaid, or shall rescue, or attempt to 
rescue, such fugitive * * * from the custody of 
such claimant, * * * or other persons lawfully 
assisting; * * * or shall aid, abet, or assist such 
person so owing service, * * * directly or in- 
directly, to escape * * * or shall harbor and 
conceal such fugitive so as to prevent the discovery and 
arrest such person * * * shall for either of said 
offenses, be subject to a fine not exceeding $1,000 and 
imprisonment not exceeding six months * * * and 
shall moreover forfeit and pay by way of civil damages 
to the party injured by such illegal conduct the sum of 
$1,000 for each fugitive so lost as aforesaid, to be re- 
covered by action of debt," etc.; (10) The claimant 
of any alleged fugitive could apply to any court of 
record, or judge thereof, in the State where he lived 
and on proof of ownership and escape have a record 
made of such facts and also a general description 
of the person escaping, with such convenient cer- 
tainty as may be, and a transcript of such record 
authenticated by the * * * clerk and the seal of 
the said Court * * * shall be held and taken to 
be full and conclusive evidence of the fact of escape and 



96 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

that the service or labor of the person escaping is due 
to the party in such record mentioned. And upon 
the production by the said party of other and further 
evidence, if necessary, either oral or by affidavit 
* * * of the identity of the person escaping, he 
or she shall be delivered up to the claimant." * * * 
Provided That nothing herein contained shall be 
construed as requiring the production of a transcript 
of such record as evidence as aforesaid. But in its 
absence the claims shall be heard and determined upon 
other satisfactory proofs." 

The above abstract and excerpts point out 
the objectionable features of a law which was so 
long that it would fill seven pages in an ordinary 
8vo volume. x 5 5 

A wave of indignation swept over the entire 
North, as soon as the provisions of the new fugitive 
slave law became known. 1 5 6 The Whig party suf- 
fered most, because its leaders had been most promi- 
nent in bringing forward and advocating the various 
compromise measures and the Whig administration 
had used all its influence to promote their enactment 
into law. 



155 William Henry Smith in A Political History of Slavery, 128-9, says: "The 
bill reported by Mr. Clay from the special committee of thirteen proposed to 
effect this in a way that would have been a safe guard to free colored persons 
beyond anything in the original law, and without disturbing the peace of com- 
munities where arrests should be made. * * * As passed, the fugitive slave 
law was a very different measure, without safe guard for the slave, harsh and re- 
pugnant to the sentiments of humanity. * * * If Northern representatives 
had not shirked their duty it would have been defeated or amended to conform 
to the original report." Clay was absent on account of ill health when this bill 
was passed. Rhodes, History of the United States, Vol. I., 182-3, says: "On August 
23d the Fugitive Slave law was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, which 
was equivalent to its passage, buy a vote of 27 to 12. The nays were eight North- 
ern Whigs, * * * three Northern Democrats, and Chase; there were fifteen 
Northern senators who did not vote. * * * On September 12th, the Fugitive 
Slave law was carried through the House, under the operation of the previous 
question, by 109 to 76. * * * Thirty-three representatives from the North 
were either absent or paired or dodged the vote." 

188 In a letter to J. T. Trowbridge, of Somerville, Mass., quoted in Warden, p. 
336, Senator Salmon P. Chase said they were "opposed by a majority of the Ohio 
Representatives. They were almost universally denounced by the Democratic 
press in Ohio, and for a time it seemed possible that they might be repudiated by 
the northern Democracy." 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 97 

On October 11, 1850, a little over three weeks 
after the passage of the Fugitive Slave law, a large 
meeting of citizens of Cleveland was held in Empire 
Hall, at which a committee on Resolutions was 
appointed, consisting of Joel Tiffany, Reuben 
Hitchcock, H. V. Willson, then, a partner of Henry 
B. Payne, two years later, Democratic candidate for 
Congress, and later still Judge of the United States 
District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, 
O. H. Knapp, and G. A. Benedict, editor of the Cleve- 
land Herald. They reported as follows: — 

"1. Resolved, That the passage of the Fugitive Law was an 
act unauthorized by the constitution, hostile to every prin- 
ciple of justice and humanity, and, if persevered in, fatal 
to Human Freedom. 

"2. Resolved, That that law strikes down some of the 
dearest principles upon which our fathers predicated their 
right to assert and maintain their independence, and is char- 
acterized by the most tyrannical exercise of power; and that 
it cannot be sustained without repudiating the doctrines 
of the Declaration of Independence, and the principles upon 
which all free governments rest. 

"3. Resolved, That tyranny consists in the wilfully violating 
by those in power of man's natural right to personal security, 
personal liberty, and private property; and it matters not 
whether the act is exercised by one man or a million of men, 
it is equally unjust, unrighteous, and destructive of the ends 
of all just governments. 

"4. Resolved, That regarding some portion of the Fugitive 
Law as unconstitutional, and the whole of it as oppressive, 
unjust, and unrighteous, we deem it the duty of EVERY 
GOOD CITIZEN to denounce, oppose and RESIST, by all 
proper means, the execution of said law, and we demand its 
immediate and unconditional repeal, and will not cease to 
agitate the question and use all our powers to secure that 
object, until it is accomplished." 157 

In October, 1850, an indignation meeting was 
held at Canfield, Mahoning County, Ohio, addressed 
by B. F. Wade, Whig, afterwards Senator from Ohio, 
Rufus P. Ranney, Democratic candidate for Congress 

157 Cleveland Leader, April 14, 1859. Cleveland Herald, ApriVi 5, 1859. West- 
ern Reserve Chronicle, April 20, 1859. 



98 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

in 1848, afterwards candidate for Governor of Ohio 
and, later still, elected Judge of the Ohio Supreme 
Court; Matthew Birchard, Democrat, afterwards 
Judge of the Ohio Supreme Court; Milton Sutliff, 
Democrat, afterwards Judge of the Ohio Supreme 
Court, John Hutchins, Whig, afterwards Member of 
Congress, and Eben Newton, Free Soiler. These 
men were all prominent citizens and, between them, 
represented all political parties and most of the people 
of the Western Reserve. The following account of 
the meeting and the resolutions adopted are copied 
from the Ohio Republican, of November 8, 1850. 

"The assembled multitude listened with great attention, 
to the thrilling eloquence and burning indignation of the 
several speakers, and repeatedly gave evidence of their 
approbation by shouts of applause. 

The resolutions reported by the committee were 
as follows, and were unanimously adopted: 

Resolved, That we regard the "fugitive act," passed by 
Congress, not only as a gross outrage upon humanity, but 
as a direct infringement upon the principles upon which our 
government is founded, and which should ever be maintained 
by a free people. 

Resolved, That in striking down, as the makers of this law 
fain would do, at a blow, the right of trial by jury, and habeas 
corpus, the right of appeal, the privilege of counsel, and cross 
examination of witnesses, they have attempted to annihilate 
the work of progress in the civil history of the world, and to 
bring back the dark ages of despotism and absolute rule, 
against which the Constitution of the United States meant 
effectually to guard by its explicit and solemn guarantee of 
these inestimable rights. 

Resolved, That we will unceasingly agitate the question, 
which this act was designed to settle, till the act is repealed 
and slavery abolished in all places within the constitutional 
authority of the general government. 

Resolved, That the acceptance of the office of Commissioner 
or Marshal under this act, by any person claiming the 
privileges of American citizenship, and brotherhood with 
men, will, as it deservedly should, brand him as a traitor to 
humanity; and we hope that no man can be found in our 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 99 

community base enough and bold enough to accept the 
work of infamy. 

Resolved, That we will not, under any political necessity 
whatever, vote for any man for any office of trust, profit or 
honor, who voted for or aided, directly or indirectly, in the 
passage of the act, or approves of its infamous provisions, 
or aids in its execution. 

The following resolution was offered by Judge 
Brownlee, and unanimously passed with a hurricane 
of shouts: 

Resolved, That, come life or come imprisonment — come 
fine or come death — we will neither aid nor assist in the return 
of any fugitive slave, but, on the contrary, we will harbor and 
secrete, and by all just means protect and defend him, and 
thus give him a practical God speed to liberty. 1 5 8 

The Congressional elections in the fall of 1850, 
resulted in sending to the House of Representatives 
140 Democrats — a gain of 22, 88 Whigs — a loss of 
23 — and 5 Free Soilers — a gain of 3. * 5 9 Although 
the Whig party had always contained more abolition- 
ists than the Democratic, the Wilmot Proviso had 
its origin among the Democrats and was looked upon 
with no favorable eye by many leading Whigs. 1 6 ° 
The Wilmot Proviso was drafted by Judge Brinkerhoff , 
Democratic congressman from the Mansfield District, 
Ohio, and presented by David Wilmot, a Democratic 



168 Reproduced in Ohio State Journal, July 18, 1859; See also Mahoning Register, 
July — , 1859. Norwalk Reflector, July 26, 1859; and Painesville Telegraph, July 
14, 1859. The following is an extract — italics, capitals and all — from a report 
of the meeting, published in the Mahoning Index, of Canfield, O., November I, 
1850, and republished in the Western Reserve Chronicle, of Warren, O., October 5, 
1859; and Mahoning Register, September 22, 1859. 

"Next upon the forum was called by the united voice of the meeting Rufus P. 
Ranney, of Trumbull, a distinguished delegate, to make our Constitution — one 
of the brightest minds in Ohio, and an old Democrat and nothing else in politics! 
He exposed not only the INFAMOUS MANNER in which the bill was rushed 
through the House under the gag rule of the Southern and infamous oppressors but in 
SCATHING AND BLISTERING CURSES denounced the whole bill as UN- 
CONSTITUTIONAL^!) and the miscreants who assisted in its passage by their 
votes, or fleeing when God and their duty required their aid in behalf of liberty and the 
rights of blood and life as unworthy of our regard— AS UNWORTHY OF OUR 
SUFFRAGE — now or hereafter." 

">» McKee, National Conventions y Platforms, 73. 

»•» Chase to Trowbridge, Warden, Life of Chase, 314. 



100 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

Congressman from Pennsylvania. The Southern 
wings of both parties, while differing upon such 
matters as internal improvements at national ex- 
pense, protective tariffs, etc., were in accord in all 
matters touching slavery. In Ohio, the Democrats 
were apparently quite as much opposed to the exten- 
sion of slavery as the Whigs, until it was made plain 
that northern Democrats could not hope for recogni- 
tion from a Democratic administration and appoint- 
ment to office, while they entertained such sentiments. 
At a Democratic State Convention held in Columbus, 
January 8, 1848, Allen G. Thurman, afterwards 
Democratic candidate for Governor of Ohio, offered, 
among other resolutions which were adopted, the 
following : — 

"Resolved, That the people of Ohio, now, as they always 
have done, look upon the institution of slavery in any part 
of the Union, as an evil and unfavorable to the full develop- 
ment of the spirit and practical benefits of free institutions; 
and that entertaining these sentiments they will, at all times, 
feel it to be their duty to use all power, clearly given by the 
terms of the National compact, to prevent its increase, to 
mitigate, and finally, to eradicate the evil." * 6 x 

This resolution was re-adopted by the Democratic 
State Conventions of 1850, 1852, 1853, 1854 and 
1855, thus justifying to some extent the hope ex- 
pressed by Chase that the Democratic party might 
become the great opponent of the slave power. In 
1850, that party elected their candidate for Governor, 
Reuben Wood, by a plurality of 26,106, over Samuel 
F. Vinton, and a majority of 9,126 over all. 16,918 
votes were cast for Samuel Lewis, Free Soiler. The 
Whigs had elected their candidate for Governor in 
1848 by a vote of 29,118 greater than they gave to 
Vinton in 1850. It cannot be doubted that the 
decline in the Whig vote was due to the passage of 



1 1 1 Warden, Life of Chase, 3 16-7; Painesville Telegraph, Aug. 4, 1858; Guhrnsey 
Times, Sept. 16, 1858. 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 101 

the Fugitive Slave law for which the Whig adminis- 
tration was held responsible. 

In the Presidential election of 1852 both Demo- 
cratic and Whig parties endorsed the "Compromise 
Measures" including "the act for reclaiming fugitives 
from service or labor," and both agreed to abide by 
and insist upon the strict enforcement of all acts 
passed in pursuance of the compromise and to resist 
all attempts to reopen the slavery question. 1 6 2 The 
anti-slavery Democrats, who revolted in 1848, re- 
turned to their allegiance being satisfied that peace 
with compromise was better than continual wrang- 
ling, but the "Progressive Whigs" and Free Soilers 
either refrained from voting or voted for John P. Hale. 
The result was an overwhelming victory for the 
Democrats — Pierce having a plurality of 214,896 
in the popular vote and receiving the electoral vote 
of all but four States — Massachusetts, Vermont, 
Kentucky and Tennessee. x 6 3 The Democrats secured 
a majority of 14 over all in the United States Senate, 
and a two to one majority in the House of Repre- 
sentatives. The Whig party had perished in its 
attempt to "save the Union." 

In his message to Congress, December 5, 1853, 
President Pierce ushered in the era of harmony and 
good feeling with the following words: — 



1 • » The Democrats resolved to "abide by, and adhere to a faithful execution 
of the acts known as the 'compromise' measures settled by the last Congress — 
'the act for reclaiming fugitives from service or labor' included," and further to 
"resist all attempts at renewing, in Congress or out of it, the agitation of the 
slavery question, under whatever shape or color the attempt may be made." 
McKee, 76. The Whigs proclaimed "that the series of acts of the Thirty-second 
Congress, the act known as the Fugitive Slave Law included, are received and ac- 
quiesced in by the Whig party * * * as a settlement in principle and sub- 
stance of the dangerous and exciting questions, which they embrace, and * * * 
will maintain them and insist upon their strict enforcement until time and ex- 
perience shall demonstrate the necessity for further legislation * * * and we 
deprecate all further agitation of the question thus settled as dangerous to our 
peace and will discountenance all efforts to continue or renew such agitation, 
whenever or however the attempt may be made." McKee, 79, 80. The striking 
similarity in the language of these resolutions indicates a common origin, or that 
the Whig Convention had copied this part of its Platform from that adopted by 
the Democrats less than two weeks before in the same city — Baltimore." 

»•» McKee, Conventions y Platforms, 84, 85. 



102 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

"the year 1850 will be recurred to as a period filled with anx- 
ious apprehension. A successful war had just terminated. 
Peace brought with it a vast augmentation of territory. Dis- 
turbing questions arose bearing upon the domestic institu- 
tions of one portion of the Confederacy and involving the 
constitutional rights of the States. But notwithstanding 
the differences of opinion and sentiment which then existed 
in relation to details and specific provisions, the acquiescence 
of distinguished citizens, whose devotion to the Union can 
never be doubted, has given renewed vigor to our institutions 
and restored a sense of repose and security to the public mind 
throughout the Confederacy. That this repose is to suffer 
no shock during my official term, if I have power to avert 
it, those who placed me here may be assured." 1 6 4 

In the fall of 1848, Rufus P. Ranney, one of Ohio's 
lawyers, then a Democratic candidate for Congress, 
wrote as follows, in answer to a letter of Judge B. F. 
Hoffman, of Warren, asking him to define his posi- 
tion on the questions of the day: — 

"I am in favor of maintaining the freedom of the terri- 
tories of New Mexico and California in their whole extent, 
and UTTERLY OPPOSED to authorizing slavery or involun- 
tary servitude of any kind within them, or to any compromise, 
which shall doom any part of them to the curse of human bond- 
age. * * * It is conceded that these territories are now 
free. They must remain so until changed by positive law 
of the sovereign power. No question is better settled in this 
country than that slavery exists in a country by virtue of the 
local law. It is clear that it can no more exist in a territory 
without such law, than a man can breathe without air. 
Neither Congress nor a territorial Legislature, in my opinion, 
possess the power to establish it. It can only be done by the 
people when admitted as a State under the general principles 
of the Constitution. I have no doubt of the power of Congress 
to erect a Territorial Government, and to provide for the pro- 
hibition of slavery within the territories, AND I AM IN FAVOR 
OF AND WOULD SUPPORT SUCH PROHIBITION." » 6 5 

The Cleveland Plaindealer, the leading Demo- 
cratic paper in Northern Ohio, set forth the views 



J • * Messages r d Papers of the Presidents, V., 222. 

>«« Western Reserve Chronicle, Oct. 4, 1848 and Sept. 3, 1856. Ohio State 
Journal, July 8, 1859, Mahoning Register, July — , 1859. 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 103 

of the Democratic party as to the Compromise Meas- 
ures in the following language: — 

"By the Constitution of the United States, (art 5 of amend- 
ments,) no person can be 'deprived of life, liberty or property, 
without due process of law.' Every person in this State is 
entitled to the protection of this provision, and there is a 
similar provision in our State Constitution. 

" 'Due process of law' is not a summary proceeding before a 
Commissioner appointed under an act of Congress. The 
judicial power under the United States Constitution is vested 
in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as Congress 
may establish. Commissioners cannot exercise judicial 
function over life and liberty. That is not 'due process of 
law.' If any person is arrested under this act, upon the war- 
rant of any commissioners, he should be immediately taken 
before a State Judge upon habeas corpus, by whom some of 
the provisions of the act can be adjudicated to be unconstitu- 
tional. Congress cannot suspend the privilege of the writ of 
habeas corpus, except in cases of rebellion, or invasion. It is 
the right of every man to have this; and no judge can refuse 
to allow it, without the most severe penalty." 1 6 6 
'"Out! d d Spot!' 

This quotation from Macbeth will apply with as much ap- 
propriateness to the late fugitive law, as it did in its original 
utterance to that black spot of guilt which the wicked mur- 
derer in the play could not wash out. 

* * * * 

"The institution of slavery is an anomaly in civilized gov- 
ernments, an exception to liberty everywhere, and a most out- 
rageous contradiction to our pretensions as a Model Republic. 
It was barely sufferable in this country sixty years ago, and 
unfortunately recognized in one of the compromises of the 
Constitution. * * * B u t no framer of that Constitu- 
tion, no indorser of its compromises ever dreamed that 
slavery would exist in this country at this day. Every act 
of Congress that has tended to support or perpetuate in the 
least this institution, has been in violation of the intent of 
the original framers of that instrument. This fugitive 
Slave Law is one of that character, and were its operations, 
like most other slave laws, confined to the slave States, it 
might escape repeal. But this is not the case; its operations 
are wholly in the free States, and to be executed, if executed 



Cleveland Plaindealer, October 23, 185c 



104 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

at all, by free men. The service it requires is not the kind 
we owe to either, God, man, or the devil." 1 6 7 

The annexation of Texas opened a new market 
and greatly increased the demand for slaves. An 
able bodied negro would bring from $1,000 to $1,500; 
able bodied women, from $800 to $1,200; and children 
from $200 to $1,000 according to age and condition. 1 6 8 
Men who captured negroes in free territory and 
delivered them to claimants, true or false, in slave 
territory, were well paid — more if the claim was a 
false one than if it was true. The usual commission 
was one-half the value of the negro, or, if sold, one- 
half the price received. Man stealing was rendered 
by the Fugitive Slave Act easy of accomplishment 
and it was much more profitable and far less dangerous 
than horse stealing. The United States protected 
him against any interference on the part of anybody. 
This law was a direct incentive to crime and slave 
hunters were soon plying their trade in Ohio, as in 
other Northern States. 

On March 20, 1851, the Legislature of Ohio 
adopted a "RESOLUTION Relative to the abduction 
of the children and grandchild of Peyton Polly," 
which illustrates the evil wrought by the Act : 

"Whereas, it has been represented to this General As- 
sembly, that on the night of the sixth of June last, seven of 

i«' Cleveland Plaindealer, October 30, 1850. 

1 •» The following item from the Louisville Courier; November 15, 1858, copied 
in the Painesville Telegraph, November 25, 1858, is illuminating: 

"SALE OF FARM AND NEGROES— The farm of the late Isaac Owings, in 
Jefferson county, on Harrod's creek, about ten miles from the city, together with 
several negroes, a quantity of stock, etc., were sold at public sale on Thursday 
last by order of the administratrix. The farm, containing about 200 acres 
of good land sold at $60 per acre, Ralph Tarlton, Esq., being the purchaser. The 
stock, etc., generally, brought good prices. The negroes brought the following 
round sums: 

1 boy aged 13 $1,310 

1 boy aged 19 1,475 

1 man aged 28 1,400 

1 man aged 30 1,015 

1 woman aged 32 with 3 children under 6 years .... 1,850 

1 woman aged 37 with 3 children under 7 years. . . . 1,900 

The slaves were sold on a credit of twelve months, and were, with one or two 
exceptions, we believe, bought by the heirs. — Louisville Courier, 15th." 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 105 

the children and one grandchild of Peyton Polly, all said to 
be free colored persons, residing in Lawrence county, in this 
State, were forcibly seized and carried into Kentucky, and 
are there now held in slavery, contrary to law; and whereas, 
it is also represented that said Peyton Polly is poor, and un- 
able to raise the pecuniary means necessary to procure coun- 
sel to test, in a court or law, the right of his said children 
and grandchildren to their liberty; Therefore, 

"Resolved, * * * That the Governor be, and is hereby 
directed to inquire into the facts of said alleged seizure and 
abduction; and if on such inquiry, he shall become satisfied 
that said representations are probably true, that he shall 
employ counsel, and adopt such other measures as shall con- 
duce most speedily to restore said persons to their liberty; 
and that the costs and expenses be paid from his contingent 
fund." x 6 9 

A sequel to this interesting case is found in a 
"JOINT RESOLUTION Relative to the Kidnapping 
of the Polly Family," adopted by the Ohio Legisla- 
ture, March 10, I860:— 

"Whereas, On the night of the 6th of June, 1850, seven 
of the children and one grandchild of Peyton Polly, all free 
persons of color, residing in Lawrence county, were forcibly 
seized with a view of reducing them to slavery, that four of 
them were arrested in the state of Kentucky on their way to 
a southern slave market, and after protracted litigation were 
declared free persons by the courts of that state, and re- 
turned to their homes; and whereas, four of said persons of 
color were sold into slavery in the county of Wayne, in the 
state of Virginia, and are now held in bondage there; and 
whereas, suit was instituted in the county of Cabell, in said 
state of Virginia, for the freedom of said last mentioned col- 
ored persons, and were delared free by the judgment of the 
circuit court of Cabell county, which judgment was after- 
wards reversed by the court of appeals, on the ground that 
the actual residence of the defendant was in Wayne county, 
and the Cabell county court had no jurisdiction of the cause; 
that said proceedings were removed to the county of Wayne, 
and are now pending; Therefore, 

"Be it resolved * * *, That the governor be and he is 
hereby authorized to expend any sum not exceeding one 
thousand dollars for the purpose of defraying expenses of 



••O. L., XLIX., 811-12. 



106 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

said litigation; that the standing committee of finance be in- 
structed to provide for the same in the general appropriation 
bill; and that the governor be requested to take such meas- 
ures as he, in his judgment, may deem necessary for the 
speedy and successful termination of said proceedings." 1 7 ° 

In the winter of 1849-50, the Ohio Senate adopted 
the following Joint Resolution by a vote 25 to 3 in 
the Senate, only two Democrats and one Whig voting 
in the negative: — 

"Resolved, That the sentiment of the freemen of Ohio is, 
No More Slave Territory; that Congress has the power, and 
should apply the Ordinance of Congress of 1787, so far as it 
relates to slavery, to all the territories of the United States; 
that Congress has the power, and should immediately exer- 
cise it, and abolish slavery, and the slave trade in the District 
of Columbia, the coast- wise and inter-state slave trade; that 
the government of the United States should cease to legislate 
for, and to promote slavery, but legislate for, and promote 
liberty; and upon this subject there should be no compromise." 

Among those voting for this resolution were 
Henry B. Payne, of Cleveland, afterwards Demo- 
cratic Senator from Ohio, and Henry C. Whitman, 
of Cincinnati, afterwards Democratic candidate for 
Supreme Court Judge. i 7 1 

In the session of the Ohio Legislature following 
the enactment of the Compromise Measures, Milton 
Sutliff, Senator from Warren, afterwards Supreme 
Court Judge, offered, December 11, 1850, a series 
of resolutions, among which were the following: 

"Resolved, That among the powers delegated to the General 
Government, by the Constitution, that of legislating upon 
the subject of Fugitives from justice is not to be found; 
while that of depriving any person of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law, is expressly denied. 

"Resolved, That in the judgment of this General Assembly 
the act of Congress in relation to Fugitives from service, 
approved Sept. 18th, 1850, is unconstitutional; not merely 
for want of power in Congress to legislate upon the subject, 



n«0. L.. LVII., 320-1. 

ui Ohio State Journal, June I, 1859. 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 107 

but because the provisions of the act are, in several important 
particulars, repugnant to the express provisions of the Con- 
stitution. 

"Resolved, That it is the duty of the several courts of this 
State, to allow the writ of habeas corpus to all persons apply- 
ing for the same in conformity with the laws of this State, 
and to conform in all respects in subsequent proceedings to 
the provisions of the same." 

In the afternoon of the same day, they were 
taken up and two additional resolutions added, 
declaring the fugitive law "further objectionable, 
because of its inhumanity — its disregard of the natural 
and inalienable rights of man, and its hostility to 
the spirit of the age of progress in which we live," 
and instructing our Congressmen to use "their best 
endeavors for its immediate repeal." x 7 2 

These resolutions were discussed at length in 
Committee of the Whole, and after various amend- 
ments were proposed, were adopted by both Houses, 
March 24, 1851, in the following form — Henry B. 
Payne and other good Democrats voting for them : — 

"Resolved, * * * That while this General Assembly 
would urge the faithful observance of law upon all the people 
of this State, and of her sister States of the Union, as the most 
effectual mode of promoting their best interests, as well as a 
high duty they owe alike to themselves and their common 
country, would most earnestly recommend to Congress, the 
necessity of so amending and modifying the provisions of 
the 'Fugitive Slave Law,' that while it secures a faithful 
compliance with all the obligations imposed by the consti- 
tution of the United States, it will, as becomes a free govern- 
ment, guard with a zealous care the rights of the freeman. 
And if said law, in the opinion of Congress, cannot be so 
amended as to give to persons claimed as Fugitives from labor, 
the benefit of every legal defence of their liberty, we^then 
recommend the repeal of said law. '■ 

"Resolved, That the law commonly called the 'Fugitive 
Law.' being a law that makes ex parte evidence conclusive 
of the master's right to recapture and return his slave; 
that denies a jury trial here or elsewhere; that provides 
for the appointment of swarms of petty officers to execute it; 



Ohio State Journal, June I, 1859. 



108 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

that gives a double compensation to find every claim set up 
in favor of the master; and pays the expenses in any case 
from the public treasury; ought never receive the voluntary 
co-operation of our people, and ought therefore to be immedi- 
ately repealed." 173 

The Democrats had contrived, by their early 
acceptance of the "Compromise" and declaration 
against any renewal of slavery agitation, to secure 
credit for the promised rest from sectional strife, 
while casting upon the Whigs all the odium for its 
objectionable features. 

In the fall election of 1853, the Ohio Democrats 
elected their candidate for Governor, William Medill, 
by a plurality of 61,806 over Nelson Barrere, the 
Whig candidate, and secured a large majority in 
both branches of the Legislature, which they utilized 
by electing George E. Pugh to the United States 
Senate to succeed Salmon P. Chase. Thousands of 
Whigs did not vote at all. Those who did, gave to 
Barrere only 85,857 votes, and to Samuel Lewis, 
Free Soiler, 50,346. Notwithstanding this over- 
whelming victory over a disheartened and divided 
enemy, the Democratic party of Ohio did not suc- 
ceed in electing another Governor for twenty years. 

At the next gubernatorial election in 1855, 
Governor Medill, renominated by the Democrats, 
was defeated by Salmon P. Chase, the candidate of 
the Republican party, which then made its first 
appearance in Ohio State politics. To appreciate 
the extent of this reversal one must add to Chase's 
plurality of 15,751 over Medill, 24,276 votes cast 
for Allen Trimble, the American (Know-nothing) can- 
didate, making the total opposition majority 40,027. 

In the Congressional elections of 1854 the Re- 
publicans had elected 108 members, and the Ameri- 
cans, 43, making an opposition majority in the 
House of 68. » 7 4 



O. L.. XLIX.. 814. 

McKee, Conventions and Platforms, 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 109 

In the Presidential election of 1856, James 
Buchanan, Democratic candidate, polled 377,629 less 
votes than John C. Fremont, Republican, and Millard 
Fillmore, American. * 7 5 Ohio gave Fremont 187,497, 
Fillmore 28,126, and Buchanan, only 170,874 — a 
minority of 44,749. Buchanan was elected by a 
majority of 52 electoral votes, but the Democrats 
did not elect another President for twenty-eight 
years. 

What caused this sudden and long continued 
loss of public favor? 

The "Compromise Measures" had been approved 
— theoretically; but every attempt to enforce the 
Fugitive Slave law, with its harsh and unjust fea- 
tures, in any northern State, created indignation 
in the community where the attempt was made. 
The spectacle of a non-resident coming into a State 
and carrying off a colored resident of the State, 
without giving him any chance to prove his right to 
liberty before a court or jury in the place where he 
resided, without even giving him a chance to testify 
in his own behalf, was too much for the Anglo-Saxon 
love of fair play. Democratic administrations and 
all their officials were afflicted with, what is now 
termed, "defective psychology." 

The things they did, with a view to awing the 
people into a strict observance of this law, simply 
exasperated them and led to determined opposition. 
When the Democratic mayor of Boston used three 
hundred armed police to escort the poor negro, Sims, 
from the office of U. S. Commissioner George Ticknor 
Curtis, to the Long Wharf and put him on a vessel 
bound for Savannah, and filled Faneuil Hall, that 
"Temple of Liberty," with State militia to assist 
the police, if necessary, in sending one negro back 
to slavery, natural inquiries arose in the minds of 
spectators. Is Massachusetts, then, a slave State? 



178 McKee, Conventions and Platforms, 103. 



110 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

Are all the resources of a city government, supported 
by taxes levied upon our property, to be placed at 
the disposal of any Southern planter who may choose 
to claim a negro residing in our midst? That night, 
bells were tolled in the churches of Boston and many 
of the neighboring cities. Public meetings were held 
in which the Fugitive Slave law was denounced in 
unmeasured terms and opposition to an administra- 
tion and a party which would lend itself to such base 
uses grew with tremendous rapidity. Similar scenes 
were enacted, with similar results, in New York and 
Pennsylvania. In the latter state a United States 
marshal employed a force of United States Marines to 
secure the delivery of an alleged fugitive. 

Most of the Ohio cases arising under the Fugitive 
Slave law of 1793 originated in Southern Ohio, and 
the Western Reserve was not vexed with seizures of 
alleged fugitives or suits against philanthropic in- 
dividuals for hindering and obstructing such seizures, 
until February, 1845, when a man named Mitchell, 
claiming to have a power of attorney from one Dris- 
kell, appeared with Driskell's son at the house of 
Francis D. Parish, a prominent lawyer and much 
respected citizen of Sandusky, Ohio, and sought to 
take Jane Garretson, a colored woman working as 
a servant in Parish's house, and her five year old 
boy. Parish said that a power of attorney was not 
sufficient and that he must have some judicial auth- 
ority before he would let them take Jane and her 
boy. All he wanted, was a fair trial in some court 
of the question of the claimant's ownership. On 
this, Mitchell and Driskell withdrew, and suit was 
brought against Parish "for hindering and obstruct- 
ing the arrest of Jane Garretson, a colored woman, 
and her son, slaves of the plaintiff, and for harboring 
or concealing them." 

On the first trial of the case at the July Term of 
the United States Circuit Court, before Mr. Justice 
McLean and a jury, the plaintiff was represented by 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 111 

Henry Stanbery, the Attorney General of Ohio and 
afterwards Attorney General in President Johnson's 
Cabinet, and Mr. Parish was represented by Ebenezer 
Lane, ex-Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio and 
Salmon P. Chase. Justice McLean charged the 
jury that the claimant or his agent might lawfully 
arrest fugitives for the purpose of taking them out 
of the State without judicial sanction — 

"according to the doctrine laid down by a majority of the 
judges in the case of Prigg v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 
16 Peters, 539. * * * It sweeps aside State laws and 
State sovereignty, and enables an individual who claims to 
act as agent to take any person, white or colored, as a fugitive 
from labor, without any exhibition of his personal authority, 
or of the claims of the master. * * * If he act without 
authority no person who 'hinders' the arrest incurs the pen- 
alty." 1 7 6 

And, on the second ground, the jury were in- 
structed that: — 

"To harbor or conceal a fugitive from labor, within the 
meaning of the statute, it must be done with a view to elude 
the claim of the master. If a shelter be afforded to the 
fugitive for an hour, a day, or a week, when there is mani- 
festly no design to conceal him from the pursuit of the master 
or his agent, or in any way to defeat the legal right of the 
master to his service, there is no violation of the statute." 

The jury, after being out several hours, dis- 
agreed and were discharged. 1 7 7 

On a second trial before U. S. District Judge 
Leavitt and a jury at the November Term, 1849, 
Henry C. Noble was associated with Attorney Gen- 
eral Stanbery, and Thomas Corwin and J. W. An- 
drews assisted Judge Lane. The Judge charged the 
jury that : — 

"it is clear that the penalty of the statute may be incurred, 
without a resort to violence, in hindering or obstructing an 
arrest. * * * If, after knowledge of the fact that a 



« Driskill v. Parrish, 3 McLean, 634-5. 17? Ibid., 653-4. 



112 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

person is a fugitive, a demand is made to arrest on the premises 
of another and refused, such refusal subjects the party to legal 
liability." 178 

In conclusion the judge said: — 

"If the plaintiff has suffered a wrong, for which the law 
gives him redress, it is the plain duty of the court and jury to 
aid him in obtaining that redress. It cannot be disguised, 
that the subject of slavery is at this time a fruitful source 
of public agitation. Unfortunately, it has become a chief 
element of political excitement in our country. Whatever 
may be our individual views of this subject, it is clear, we 
shall best acquit ourselves of the responsibility now resting 
upon us, by taking care that the rights of the parties to this 
action are in no way affected by the existing state of public 
feeling, on the question of slavery. In Ohio, popular senti- 
ment is no doubt strongly against that institution; and, 
there are few, if any, of her citizens who do not rejoice, that 
its admission into the State is precluded by a barrier, that 
may well be deemed insurmountable." * 7 9 

The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff 
on the count for "hindering and obstructing the 
arrest" — assessing the damages at $500, and for 
the defendant on the count "for concealing and har- 
boring." 

Numerous cases arose in central and southern 
Ohio, under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 — among 
them that of the wholesale kidnapping of the Polly 
family in Lawrence county, heretofore noted. J 8 ° 
Another which attracted much attention was that 
of the minor negro girl, Rosetta, who was taken 
from an agent of a Kentucky master under a writ 
of habeas corpus issued by a Franklin county judge 
and placed under the guardianship of a citizen of 
Columbus, and then taken from the custody of 
th egally appointed guardian, under a writ of 
habeas corpus issued by Justice McLean of the United 
States Supreme Court. This case was argued on 
behalf of Rosetta by ex-Senator Chase, ex-Judge 



Driskill v. Parrish, 5 McLean, 72-3. »»• Ibid., 75. 

Supra, pp. 104-5. 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 113 

Timothy Walker and Rutherford B. Hayes, whom 
Chase described in a letter to J. T. Trowbridge as 
"a young lawyer of great promise," and who "ac- 
quitted himself with great distinction in the defense 
of Rosetta before Pendery," the U. S. Commissioner. 
The claimant was represented by Senator George 
E. Pugh, ex- Judge Flynn and a Mr. Wolf, of Louis- 
ville. IS1 

Another case was that of the Garner family, 
besieged by slave-hunters in a cabin in Storrs town- 
ship, Hamilton county. The mother, crazed at 
the prospect of her children being condemned to a 
life of slavery, seized a butcher knife and tried to 
kill them all — succeeding as to one. The survivors 
were arrested and taken to the Police Station and 
thence removed under a writ of habeas corpus issued 
by a county judge and placed in the custody of the 
Sheriff of Hamilton county. A few days later the 
parents were indicted for the murder of their child. 
Before trial, they were taken from the custody of the 
Sheriff under a writ of habeas corpus issued by United 
States Judge Leavitt. The various proceedings re- 
sulted in two persons, indicted for murder and in 
the hands of the proper State officer awaiting trial, 
being taken away from that officer and carried off 
to the State of Kentucky by agents of the alleged 
owner. The "property" of a slave-holder could not 
be punished for crime, and his rights were declared 
to be superior to all State laws and the rights of 
society. 1 8 2 

Another case grew out of the arrest, by deputy- 
Marshals and Kentuckians engaged in a slave-hunt 
in Champaign county, of four citizens of that county 
accused of hindering and obstructing them in their 
enterprise. The friends of the prisoners secured a 



s 
»8i Warden, Life of Chase, 344-5. A very noticeable feature of all these caser 

is the high professional standing of the counsel engaged and the fact that poo 

ignorant negroes could command the services of such men. 
I' 2 Warden, Life of Chase, 346 to 350 inch 



114 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

writ of habeas corpus and placed it in the hands of 
the Sheriff who undertook to serve it, but was beaten 
and shot at by the slave-hunters. Another writ of 
habeas corpus was sued out in Greene county and 
the Sheriff of this county, being forewarned, took 
with him a posse large enough to overcome the deputy- 
marshals and slave-hunters after a brief fight in which 
pistols were again used. The deputy -Marshals gave 
bail for their appearance and the slave-hunters were 
lodged in the Xenia jail. United States Judge 
Leavitt issued a writ of habeas corpus, brought the 
slave-hunters before him and discharged them. Sen- 
ator George E. Pugh and Clement L. Vallandigham 
argued the case for the Kentuckians and the Attor- 
ney General of Ohio appeared for the Sheriff. Again 
it appeared that the Courts of Ohio could issue no 
writs which a wandering slave-hunter was bound 
to respect. ' 8 3 

Another hard case arose in Ross county, where 
a colored man named Lewis Early, a former slave of 
G. Kilgour of Cabell county, Va., brought free papers 
with him to Ohio and deposited them for safe keeping 
with J. Robinson, who gave him employment. In 
October, 1856, Robinson's house was burned and 
Early's papers were destroyed, which fact became 
known in the neighborhood. On March 25th, Early 
was seized by U. S. officials and hurried before U. S. 
Commissioner C. C. Browne at Cincinnati, who 
ordered him to be delivered to J. Kilgour, as son 
and agent of G. Kilgour, although Robinson testified 
as to the free papers and their loss by fire. Applica- 
tion for a writ of habeas corpus was made to Judge 
Leavitt, but before the papers could be made out, 
the claimant and his friends carried Early over into 
Kentucky and out of the jurisdiction of the Court. l 8 4 



us Warden, Life of Chase, 350-1. 

181 Cleveland Leader, April 8, 1859. The Leader adds, "No person of reputed 
African descent' is safe for an hour so long as known man-stealers are tolerated 
on free soil." 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 115 

He was sold in Louisville for $1,150, out of which 
Kilgour received only $425. The Louisville Courier 
said: "He will go to the South and exercise himself 
a while in the empire of King Cotton." 1 8 5 

The Ohio Legislature elected in the fall of 1856 
made several efforts to at least mitigate the evils 
now apparent in the practical operation of the Fugi- 
tive Slave Law. They passed "AN ACT To pro- 
hibit the confinement of fugitives from slavery in 
the jails of Ohio," 186 "AN ACT To prevent Slave- 
holding and Kidnapping in Ohio," * 8 7 and "AN 
ACT To prevent Kidnapping." 1 8 8 The second act 
was intended to cover cases like the Rosetta case, 
where a slave is brought into Ohio by an owner or 
his agent and held there indefinitely. In such a 
case, as the earlier decisions declared, the Constitu- 
tional provision for the reclamation of fugitive slaves 
and laws made in pursuance thereof did not apply. 
The third act provided: — 

"That no person or persons shall arrest and imprison, or 
kidnap, or forcibly or fraudulently carry off or decoy out of 
this State any free black or mulatto person, or attempt" [to 
do so]. 

"That no person or persons shall kidnap or forcibly or 
fraudulently carry off or decoy out of this state any black or 
mulatto person * * * claimed as fugitives from service 
or labor, or shall attempt" [to do so] "without first taking 
such black or mulatto person or persons before the Court, 
judge or commisioner of the proper circuit, district or county 
having jurisdiction, according to the laws of the United 
States * * * and there, * * * establishing by proof 
his or her property in such person." 

"That any person or persons offending against the pro- 
visions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and on conviction thereof * * * shall be confined in the 
penitentiary at hard labor for any space of time not less than 
three years nor more than eight years at the discretion of the 
court and moreover be liable for all costs of prosecution." 



« »» Cleveland Leader, April 13, 1859. 

>««0. L.. LIV.. 170. i" Ibid., 186. i»» Ibid.. 221-2. 



116 The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 

This Legislature also passed a series of joint 
resolutions, one calling for a re-formation of the 
Supreme Court of the United States, of which a 
majority of the Judges were then appointees from 
slave-holding States, and requesting our Senators 
and Representatives in Congress: — 

"to use their influence and votes to procure the adoption of 
such amendments of the laws organizing the federal judiciary, 
as will give to the several States of the Union that just pro- 
portion of the judges of the Supreme Court to which they 
are entitled by population and business and the equality of 
weight in the several departments of the government of right 
belonging to the people of these States." J 8 9 

Another, "Relative to Slavery and the Exten- 
sion thereof," declaring: — 

"That the people of Ohio now, as they always have done, 
look upon the institution of slavery as an evil unfavorable 
to the full development of the spirit and practical benefits 
of free institutions; and that entertaining these sentiments 
they will feel it their duty to use all their power consistent 
with the national compact to prevent the increase, to miti- 
gate, and finally to eradicate the evil." 1 9 ° 

"That the provisions of the ordinance of Congress of 1787, 
so far as the same relates to slavery, should be extended to 
all territory of the United States not yet organized into 
States. 

"That our Senators and representatives in Congress are 
hereby requested to vote against the admission of any State 
in the Union, unless slavery or involuntary servitude, ex- 
cept for crime, be excluded in the constitution thereof." x 9 1 

Another, "Relative to the decision in the Dred 
Scott case; declaring: — 

"1st. That this general assembly has observed with re- 
gret, that, in the opinion lately pronounced by Chief Justice 
Taney * * * in the case of Dred Scott against J. H. 
Sanford occasion has been taken to promulgate extra ju- 
dicially certain doctrines concerning slavery, not less con- 



>8»0. L.. LIV.. 297. 

"o This will be recognized as one of the planks in the Democratic platform 
adopted in 1848-1850, 1852, 1853 and 1855. 
>»>0. L., LIV., 298. 



The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 117 

tradictory to well known facts of history, than repugnant to 
the plain provisions of the constitution and subversive of 
the rights of freemen and free States. 

"2d. That in the judgment of this general assembly, every 
free person, born within the limits of any State of this Union, 
is a citizen thereof and to deny any such person the right 
of sueing in the courts of the United States, in those cases 
where that right is guaranteed by the constitution to all 
citizens of the United States, is a palpable and unwarranted 
violation of that sacred instrument. 

"3d. That the doctrine announced by the chief justice 
* * * that the federal constitution regards slaves as mere 
property, and protects the claims of masters to slaves, to the 
same extent, and in the same manner as the rights of owners 
in property, foreshadows, if it does not include the doctrine 
that masters may hold slaves as property within the limits of 
free States, during temporary visits, or for purposes of tran- 
sit, to the practical consequences of which doctrine no free 
State can submit with honor. 

"4th. That the doctrine also announced in behalf of a 
majority of the court that there exists no power in the gen- 
eral government to exclude slavery from the territories of 
the United States subverts the spirit of the constitution, 
annuls the just authority of the people of the United States 
over their own territories, and contradicts the uniform 
practice of the government. 

"5th. That the general assembly, in behalf of the people 
of Ohio, hereby solemnly protest against these doctrines, as 
destructive of personal liberty, of State's rights, of consti- 
tutional obligations and of the Union; and, so protesting, 
further declares its unalterable convictions that * * * 
the fathers of the republic * * * in the constitution, 
by the comprehensive guaranty that no person shall be de- 
prived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of 
law, designed to secure these rights against all invasion by 
the federal government, and to make the establishment of 
slavery outside of slave States a constitutional impossi- 
bility." » 9 2 

These last resolutions command careful perusal 
by a lawyer-like precision and clarity of statement 
and a regard for fundamental principles quite ex- 
ceptional in legislative fulminations. They did not 
carry the weight and have the influence on public 



'O. L..LIV.. 301. 



118 The Oberlin- Wellington Rescue Cases 

opinion which they deserved; because, in the fall 
election, which was held less than six months after 
their adoption and before they were printed and in 
general circulation, the Administration Democrats 
gained a majority in both branches of the legislature 
and proceeded to undo the work of the preceding 
legislature. 

The reversal was not due to any change in the 
sentiments of a majority of the people, but to the 
apathy, commonly observed in the year following 
an exciting Presidential campaign, and to the tend- 
ency of reformers to regard their work as complete 
when they have once succeeded in incorporating 
their views in public laws and resolutions. They 
pat themselves on the back and go to sleep while men 
stimulated by self interest and political ambition 
return to the charge and annul all the disinterested 
reformers have accomplished. 

The new Democratic Legislature promptly re- 
pealed the act prohibiting the confinement of fugitives 
from slavery in the jails of Ohio, and the act to pre- 
vent slaveholding and kidnapping in Ohio. This 
was notice to all slave-hunters that the Ohio field 
was again open for the pursuit of negroes and that 
no obstacles would be placed in their way. The 
fact that the third Act above mentioned, relating 
to kidnapping only, had not been repealed, seems to 
have escaped general observation. 

THE OBERLIN— WELLINGTON 
RESCUE CASES. 

As might have been expected, there was renewed 
activity during the summer of 1858 in the profitable 
business of capturing negroes, hustling them out 
of the State, selling them for the $1,000 to $1,500 
which each would bring, and dividing the proceeds. 
There was no way in which a brutal man, with little 
education, could make so much money as in slave 



The Oberlin- Wellington Rescue Cases 119 

hunting or man stealing, and the "law" had, now, 
no terrors to restrain him. 1 9 3 After the case of 
Driskell v. Parish, 1 9 4 the Western Reserve had not 
experienced the rigors of the Fugitive Slave Laws, 
of either 1793 or 1850, and there was an unusual 
influx of colored immigrants from other sections of 
the State, as well as from the South, who believed 
that, there, they would be comparatively immune 
from capture, or annoyance. In the decade 1850 
to 1860, there had been a 45% increase in the colored 
population of Ohio ; and in two counties of the Western 
Reserve the increase had been more than 100 per 
cent. According to the census of 1860, there were 
894 blacks in Cuyahoga county, most of whom were 
concentrated in the city of Cleveland where con- 
cealment was easy and where it was easy to get 
away on a Lake vessel in case of a raid by slave- 
catchers. There were 549 blacks in Lorain county, 
a large percentage of whom were settled in and about 
Oberlin on account of its educational advantages 
and philanthropic spirit. 1 9 5 The Cleveland, and 
various county newspapers boasted of the immunity 
of colored residents from capture and reported with 
defiant satisfaction the passage through the Reserve 
to such Lake ports as Conneaut, Ashtabula, Fair- 



ly Portage County Democrat, Sept. 29, 1858, said. "Our National Government 
is an engine of oppression — James Buchanan is the head slave-catcher. His 
subordinate co-workers, the agents of the Fugitive Slave Law, are remarkably- 
active in Ohio, the present season." The Guernsey Times, Dec. 23, 1858., said, 
"Ohio has become the arena for slave hunts." See also, Ashtabula Sentinel, 
Aug. 12, 1858, and Painesville Telegraph, Sept. 9. 1858. 

1 » * Supra, pp. 1 10 to 1 1 2 inch 

>» 6 The Cleveland Leader said, September 10, 1858, "It is now ten years since 
any attempt has been made to get possession of fugitives from service in Oberlin. 
The effort then failed. From that time the few fugitives settled there have dwelt 
in comparative peace and safety. They have made themselves pleasant homes, 
accumulated property, improved their minds and educated their children, and 
have, in all respects, been good citizens;" and again, April 19, 1859, "During the 
M arshalship of Mr. Jones and Mr. Fitch, the latter the immediate predecessor 
of Marshal Johnson, not a fugitive was seized in Northern Ohio." and again 
April 30, 1859, "During the whole of President Pierce's and the half of Mr. Buchan- 
an's Administration no efforts were made in these parts, in a business so odious 
to the people, and so disreputable to the actors therein." 



120 The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 

port, Cleveland, Lorain, Huron and Sandusky, of 
colored travelers on the safe and well equipped 
"Underground Railroad." 1 9 6 

In the summer of 1858, one Anderson Jennings, 
of Maysville, Ky., made his third trip to Ohio in 
search of "likely" negroes, who either had been, or 
would make, useful slaves. He visited Cleveland, 
Sandusky, Elyria, and Painesville, Ohio, but did not 
stay long in either place. He had with him on his 
visits to Sandusky, Elyria, and Painesville, United 
States Deputy Marshal A. P. Dayton, of the North- 
ern District of Ohio, who was then a resident of 
Oberlin. Their errand in Painesville being sus- 
pected, they were questioned and warned to leave 
the place in twenty minutes and they left. 1 9 7 Dayton 



i» 6 The Portage County Democrat, August 4, 1858, said: 

"UNDERGROUND R. R.— Some little interest was awakened in Salem. 
Columbiana County, last week by the appearance of a Virginia slaveholder 
in that town, in search of a peculiar kind of property recognized in that State 
[a colored woman, wife of a free-born native of Ohio] * * * Some of the en- 
terprising officers of the U. G. R. R. took the matter in charge and passed 
the young woman over the road to the dominions of Queen Victoria. The young 
husband tarried a day or two and passed through this place on Conductor Swayne's 
train on Monday, to join his wife in a land where slave-drivers, slaveholders' laws 
and United States Marshals cannot interrupt the peace or infringe upon the 
rights of free citizens." The Cleveland Leader said, Aug. 21, 1858, "U.G.R.R. — 
We are informed by one who is in the secret that no less than seven slaves, three 
men and their wives and one child, all the way from Maryland, passed through 
this city day before yesterday on their way to the Canadas, where they are by 
this time safely landed." 

The Painesville Telegraph said, August 26, 1858: — 

"The U. G. R. R. — The travel on this line is constant and increasing. Last 
Monday night some six or seven thousand dollars worth of passengers passed over 
on the underground track not a thousand miles from these parts." The Medina 
Gazette said, Sept., 1858, "Last Friday night three fugitives from slavery, 
Kentucky, a man and two women, arrived in this town on their way to Canada 
They were very intelligent. Had been about four weeks on the road. * * * 
Quite a sum of money was raised here for their relief, and they left Saturday 
morning rejoicing." The Conneaut Reporter, January — , 1859, said, "ANOTHER 
PASSENGER — A 'likely' thousand dollar nigger from Maysville, Ky., passed 
through here last Saturday evening, toward the North Star. Several of our 
citizens endangered the perpetuity of the Union to aid his escape." See also 
Ashtabula Sentinel, Aug. 12, Aug. 26, and Sept. 3, 1858, and Jan. 6 and Jan. 27, 
1859; Portage County Democrat, Aug. 18 and 25, 1858; and Cleveland Herald, Aug. 
21 and 23, 1858. 

' »' Painesville Telegraph, Sept. 9. 1858; Western Reserve Chronicle. Sept. 8, 1858; 
Cleveland Leader, Sept. 3, 1858. Jennings himself testified in open court about 
this visit. He said: "Heard my boy Henry was at Elyria; got there, and heard 
he had gone to Painesville. Went there and found a worse place than Oberlin. 



The Oberlin- Wellington Rescue Cases 121 

took up his residence in Oberlin just after his appoint- 
ment as Deputy. He soon became persona non grata, 
as he was suspected of espionage on the colored popu- 
lation and being in close touch with would-be captors. 
He was implicated in an unsuccessful attempt to 
capture the Wagoner family about the middle of 
August, 1858, was recognized and driven off by 
Wagoner, carrying a shot-gun in his hand and shout- 
ing to rouse the neighborhood. On Friday night, 
August 20, 1858, an attempt was made by four men, 
Dayton among them, to seize and carry off a negro 
woman and her children. The shrieks of the woman 
aroused the neighborhood and there was such a rapid 
gathering of the citizens that the kidnappers aban- 
doned their prey and disappeared. On Monday 
night of Commencement week, August 23, 1858, 
just as President Hitchcock of Western Reserve 
College had closed his address to the College societies, 
the attempt was renewed. The fire-bell was rung 
and the students rushed to the scene of action and 
again the would-be captors hurried off without 
their prey. If Dayton had a warrant for the arrest 
of these persons, he chose a very sneaking and sus- 
picious way of executing it. A mulatto stone-cutter, 
James Smith, was advised by a correspondent in 
North Carolina that he had better look out, for 
Dayton had written to parties there describing him 
and offering to arrest him if they would send him a 
power of attorney. Smith met Dayton a few days 
after getting this letter, accused him of treachery 
and chased him into the Palmer House, striking 
him with a hickory cane. 1 9 8 



Never see so many niggers and abolitionists in any one place in my life! Dayton 
was with me. They give us twenty minutes to leave, and then wouldn't allow us 
that! There was a crowd of fifty or sixty, armed. Might as well try to hunt the 
devil there as to hunt a nigger. Was glad to get away as fast as I could. Kept 
very close at Oberlin. Didn't tell my business to many. Dayton and Warren 
were at my room." 

>•• Cleveland Leader, Sept. 10 and 21; and Dec. 14, 1858; Sandusky Register, 
August — , 1858; Cleveland Herald, Aug. 28, 1858; Jeffersonian Democrat, Chardon, 



122 The Oberlin- Wellington Rescue Cases 

It may not be out of place for the writer to 
record, here, some personal recollections of a visit 
made to Oberlin in August, 1858. One day as he 
was walking by Wack's Hotel on South Main Street 
with a cousin, he saw two or three rough looking 
men sitting on the porch, who were pointed out as 
"slave-catchers." It was impressed upon him that 
"slave-catchers" were the most depraved of human 
beings — worse than thieves, burglars or murderers 
— and he gave Wack's Hotel a wide berth after that, 
not only on this visit, but on one he made three 
years later. I attended some of the Commencement 
exercises and remember particularly speeches by 
John C. Hutchins, afterwards a prominent lawyer 
and judge in Cleveland, and William D. Scrimegeour, 
a fiery Scotchman, who used plain Anglo-Saxon 
language and some striking similes. He brought 
down the house by saying, in regard to slavery, 
"The day for soft speeches is past. The time for 
action has come. You'd as well try to knock down 
this meeting house" (which still stands) "with a 
pancake as to destroy slavery by a string of resolu- 
tions." 

I spent the latter part of August at the home 
of my aunt Elizabeth Cochran, wife of Stephen 
W. Cole, about 2 miles northeast of Oberlin. My 
uncle seemed to have a good deal of business with 
a colored blacksmith, named Augustus Chambers, 
whose smithy was about a quarter of a mile east 
of Mr. Cole's house. He took me along on three 
occasions, once when he had a horse to be shod, 
once when he had a wagon-tire to be reset, and once 
when he seemed to have nothing in particular to do, 



Sept. 3 and 17. 1858; Norwalk Reflector, Sept. 21, 1858; The Oberlin Evangelist, Sept. 
29, 1858, said: "Our community has been excited at various times during a few- 
weeks past by attempts to capture fugitives in this place. These efforts have been 
made, as we understand, by men from Kentucky. * * * It is not necessary 
to say that these efforts have stirred up intense feeling on the part of our citizens. 
* * * In these undertakings there was no approach to success until stratagem 
and treachery were resorted to." 



The Oberlin- Wellington Rescue Cases 123 

but talked to Chambers in a low tone of voice. Cham- 
bers became highly excited. He brought his hammer 
down on his anvil with a mighty crash, then threw 
it in the corner. He paced about his smithy, ges- 
ticulating violently and talking in a loud voice, 
which was still musical and pleasing, and his eyes 
flashed fire. "So they tried to steal that mammy 
and her children right under your noses! So they 
rang the firebells and got out the fire company and 
the hooks and ladders to stop it, did they? Well! 
how long are you going to let these man-stealers 
lie around Oberlin? I don't call them slave-catchers; 
there are mighty few slaves around here. I call them 
man-stealers — devilish thieves!" 

My uncle tried to quiet him and suggested that 
he should go into hiding for a few days. There was 
a swamp and dense forest in those days (since drained 
and cleared) which stretched from a point not far 
from Chambers' smithy nearly to Elyria and, while 
I did not understand it clearly at the time, I became 
convinced, later, that many negroes were in hiding 
in that swamp and that Chambers was in close com- 
munication with them, and that, through Chambers, 
my uncle was extending aid to the poor refugees. 
"No, Sir!" thundered Chambers, "7 stay right here. 
And if any one of those men darkens my door, he 
is a dead man." He then showed my uncle how 
impossible it was for him to be taken unawares, 
how he had a hammer here and a bar of iron there, 
and a sharpened poker lying in the forge red hot 
most of the time. He took us into a lean-to in the 
rear and showed us a double-barrel shot gun "loaded 
with buck" over the door, and knives and a pistol 
hung on the siding near his bed. "But, Chambers!" 
said my uncle, "you wouldn't kill a man, would you?" 
"Kill a man? No. But kill a man-stealer? Yes! 
Quicker'n a dog. As God is my judge, the man who 
tries to take my life will lose his own." My uncle 
looked at me and then said to Chambers, "Sh-h-h, 



124 The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 

little pitchers have big ears." Chambers said, "I 
don't care how big his ears are, or his mouth. I 
don't care who hears, or how many he tells. Cham- 
bers will never be taken alive." "But," my uncle 
said, "we all know you are a freeman and have your 
papers, so that any court or judge will clear you — 
even if they do take you." 

"I will never trust them. A man with a drop 
of colored blood in his veins has no show. Any 
white man who wants to make a few hundred dollars 
can swear away my rights. They will not let me 
say a word. My papers are all right, but how can 
I hold on to them or prove they are 'jinuine.' These 
men-stealers are just lying around Oberlin until 
they can spot a likely negro, get his description 
down pat — size, marks and all — then get some fellow 
down South to claim him and give them his affidavy 
and then they will sail in and take him. An average 
negro in good condition is worth $1,000. On account 
of my blacksmithing, I s'pose I would be worth 
$2,000 on a big plantation, and if this thing goes on 
much longer they will try to get me." 

His voice was tremulous with emotion and a 
sense of wrong. 

"But we will testify for you," my uncle said. 
"Think they are going to have me tried here?" Cham- 
bers said. "They will take me way off somewheres 
where you-uns can't come and more'n likely they 
won't try me at all. They'll slip me over the Ohio 
river if they can and say nothing to nobody. If 
they do try to prove up it will be in the back office 
of some Commissioner appointed by a Democratic 
judge, with no one present, but the men who get me, 
who say their say, and I am not allowed to say any- 
thing. For fear, even then, that a C'missioner 
might let me off, the law says to him — send him 
down South and you get $10 — set him free and you 
only get $5. And that isn't all. When you pick up 
a negro worth $1,000 or $2,000, there is money to 



The Oberlin- Wellington Rescue Cases 125 

divide among all concerned. There is nothing coming 
to anybody if you set him free." 

I think his words would have made a lasting 
impression on my mind anyway; but the capture 
of John Price, a fortnight later, by the very men 
he was talking about, the subsequent indictment 
and trial of Price's rescuers, and the excited talk 
I heard in Warren, Ohio, to which I returned soon 
after the first of September, 1858, made them indelible. 
And I never heard any one state the objections to 
the Fugitive Slave Law more clearly and more elo- 
quently than this colored man, who "had no rights 
that a white man was bound to respect." 

It was a significant thing that when Jennings 
came to Northern Ohio, looking for slaves of his 
own and, incidentally, for slaves belonging to others, 
he should go right to Dayton, at Oberlin, and keep 
in touch with him until he had accomplished the 
object of his visit. The following account is con- 
densed from the sworn testimony of witnesses given 
at two trials in the United States District Court 
at Cleveland, during the months of April and May, 
1859, as reported daily in the Cleveland Leader and 
Cleveland Herald. 

Jennings arrived in Oberlin late in August, 
1858, and went to Wack's hotel, which he made 
the base for operations. Dayton and a man named 
Warren met him at the hotel. He himself kept out 
of sight most of the time while they scouted around 
and made inquiries for him. It was on clues fur- 
nished by them that he visited the places above 
mentioned, ostensibly looking for a run-away slave 
of his own. He did not find him, but he wrote to 
John G. Bacon of Maysville, Ky., that he had "dis- 
covered a nigger near Oberlin answering to the descrip- 
tion of his run-away slave, John, and that if he 
would send him a power of attorney he would get 
him. He then went to Sandusky and from there 
went to his home near Maysville to urge Bacon to 



126 The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 

give him the power of attorney. This follow-up 
move seems to have been inspired by the knowledge, 
gained before he wrote, that a man named McMillen 
already had a power from Bacon to take John. He 
must have learned this from Dayton, with whom 
McMillen had been working before Jennings came. 1 9 9 
Bacon told Jennings that he had executed a power 
of attorney and given it to Richard P. Mitchell. 1 9 9a 
to take to him at Oberlin, and that he must have 
passed Mitchell, on the Ohio river. The power of 
attorney was not Bacon's only, and did not apply 
to "John" alone. Richard Loyd joined in it and it 
described his negro "Frank." It was dated Septem- 
ber 4, 1858. Jennings hurried back to Oberlin and 
met Mitchell who had been waiting there for him 
two days. Mitchell gave him the power of attorney 
and said he had seen "John" and he was the boy 
wanted. Jennings said, to make things doubly sure, 
he would get a warrant from a United States Com- 
missioner and a United States Deputy Marshal to 
execute it. Oberlin is in the Northern District of 
Ohio and less than 35 miles from Cleveland, where 
there was a United States Judge, a United States 
Marshal, and a United States Commissioner. Cleve- 
land was the natural and proper place to apply for 
a warrant and the Cleveland Marshal, or one of his 
deputies, was the proper person to make the arrest. 
A Cleveland judge, or U. S. Commissioner, was the 
proper person to hear and decide whether John 
Price was Bacon's slave, and whether he was a 
"fugitive from labor" within the meaning of the 
Fugitive Slave Law. The warrant could have been 

1 1 • When quizzed about this apparent breach of confidence, on the second of the 
trials above mentioned, Jennings made a characteristic explanation. "McMillen 
had a power of attorney to take John when I wrote for one. Don't know whether 
Bacon knew he had one or not. S'pose McMillen went and got it for his own 
use, without Bacon's knowledge!" This interesting letter was conveniently miss- 
ing at the trial. 

>••» Richard P. Mitchell may well be termed a professional slave-catcher. 
He figured in the Sandusky case of Driskillv Parrish, supra, pp. no to 112. He had 
twice before visited Ohio in search for the Maysville runaways. 



The Oberlin- Wellington Rescue Cases 127 

procured and the arrest made within a day. John's 
friends and neighbors could have attended the hear- 
ing without great inconvenience and satisfied them- 
selves that he had a fair trial. Jennings knew all 
this and had been in constant communication with 
Dayton, to whom the warrant would naturally have 
been delivered for execution. But Jennings did not 
go to Cleveland. He went to Columbus, which is 
in the Southern District of Ohio, and hunted up 
Jacob K. Lowe, a U. S. Deputy Marshal for the 
Southern District of Ohio, and the two went before 
Sterne Chittenden, a U. S. Commissioner for the 
Southern District of Ohio, who issued a warrant 
to any deputy -Marshal of that District for the arrest 
of — not John Price of Oberlin but — "John, a fugi- 
tive and person escaped from service by him owed 
to John G. Bacon" and commanding him to forth- 
with "have his body before some United States 
Commissioner, within and for the Southern District 
of Ohio:' 

The warrant was handed to Lowe, and Jennings 
returned to Oberlin with Lowe and Davis, the latter 
a jailer and deputy sheriff of Franklin county — ar- 
riving there late Friday night, September 10, 1858. 
Jennings, Mitchell, Lowe and Davis had a conference 
with Dayton and Warren at Wack's hotel. Both 
Dayton and Warren said that it would be dangerous 
to attempt to arrest John Price in Oberlin; that 
some scheme must be contrived for getting him 
out of town so that he could be seized and carried 
off without raising a disturbance. To Jennings' 
question, "if he knowed of any one a man could 
put confidence in," old Mr. Warren told him he 
could trust Lewis D. Boynton, who lived about 
two and a half miles north of Oberlin. Jennings 
and Lowe went to Boynton's house Saturday night 
and stayed there until late Sunday night. They 
fared better than they would have fared at the hotel, 
and before coming away, arranged with Boynton's 



128 The Oberlin- Wellington Rescue Cases 

son, Shakespeare, to drive into town and get John 
Price to go out with him to dig potatoes, and, if he 
consented, to let them know so that they could 
follow and arrest him. John was not anxious to 
work, himself, but offered to go with Shakespeare 
and hunt up "a nigger down at New Oberlin that he 
thought would go and dig potatoes." This was 
reported and Shakespeare took John in his carriage 
and drove slowly eastward until about two miles 
from Oberlin, when Lowe, Mitchell and Davis in a 
two-seated carriage overtook them and transferred 
John to their own carriage and started for Wellington 
by a diagonal road from Elyria which passed to 
the east of Oberlin and struck the road from that 
place to Wellington about two miles south of Oberlin. 
The seizure was effected without any outcry or dis- 
turbance. Shakespeare returned to Wack's tavern — 
not the "Mermaid" — reported the capture to Ander- 
son Jennings, the leader in the enterprise, and re- 
ceived $20 for his morning's work — not too much, 
considering that Jennings was to receive $500 for 
delivering the negro to the claimant in Maysville, 
Kentucky. 

Jennings then started for Wellington to join 
the captors. Two young men, driving from Pitts- 
field to Oberlin, met the three men with the negro, 
John, and, later, Jennings. They knew at once 
what it meant, and, hurrying to Oberlin, spread 
the news that the "Southerners" had caught John 
Price and were carrying him off to Wellington — 
nine miles away — with the evident intention of 
taking the train South which went through about 
5 o'clock. There was great excitement and in a 
short time numbers of students and towns-people 
started for Wellington in buggies, spring wagons, 
hay wagons and any old rig they could get. Some 
of these were borrowed for the occasion, without the 
formality of consulting the owners. The speed limit, 
as fixed by custom, was exceeded by almost every 



The Oberlin- Wellington Rescue Cases 129 

outfit. One man said he made the distance in three 
quarters of an hour, another testified that his party 
made it in 40 minutes. Simeon Bushnell, who started 
late, because he wanted "a good rig and a man with 
a gun," passed nearly everybody on the road. As 
no tickets were sold, it is impossible to tell how 
many went down to Wellington on this excursion, 
but there were some 50 or 60 in all. They had no 
organization and no leader. Many went from mere 
curiosity and Mr. Wack went to get Jennings to 
give him a good ten dollar bill for one which Jennings 
had paid him, and which the bank said was counter- 
feit. There were perhaps 20 guns in the crowd, 
very few of which were loaded. The first thought 
of those who were in earnest was, they must prevent 
the kidnappers — for that is what all believed the 
Southerners to be — from taking the afternoon train 
South, and so they surrounded the Wadsworth 
House, 2 ° ° the hotel to which the captors had taken 
John, and blocked the doors and every avenue of 
escape. It was doubtful even then if they could 
have effected their purpose, except for a fortuitous 
circumstance which added greatly to their apparent 
numbers. A building in Wellington near the hotel 
took fire that morning and rumor spread by tele- 
graph and otherwise that the town was burning up. 
People came in from Grafton, La Grange, Rochester 
and New London, on the railroad, and from the 
surrounding country in buggies to see the fire, and 
when the fire was out, joined the crowd around the 
hotel, hoping to see something exciting. 2 ° x The 
crowd, thus reinforced, varied from 150 to 300 in 
number. Knowing nothing of the composition and 
motives of this crowd, the captors thought they 



200 This hotel was a frame building of two stories and an attic, facing the public 
square on the site now occupied by the Library which ex-Governor Herrick pre- 
sented to his native town. It had a two-story porch in front. 

201 Cleveland Leader, Sept. 13, 1858; Independent Democrat, Elyria, Sept. 15, 
1858; Lorain County Eagle, Sept. 15, 1858. 



130 The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 

were all after John Price, and were thoroughly 
overawed. They backed up stairs to the second 
story and when a ladder was put up outside and 
people began climbing to the second story porch, 
they backed up to the attic, and retired to a room 
which had a small fan-shaped window and one door 
with a rope fastening. Jennings was a Kentucky 
giant, about 6 feet 4 inches high, and with proportions 
to correspond. Mitchell was another big Kentuckian. 
Lowe and Davis were used to handling prisoners, 
and all were armed with revolvers — the Kentuckians 
carrying two apiece and knives in addition. 

Before retiring to the last ditch, i. e., the attic 
of the Wadsworth House, John's captors parleyed 
with the crowd, invited them to appoint a committee 
to inspect the papers and report on the regularity 
of their action. The "papers" were in fact exhibited 
to several persons, among them the Democratic 
Postmaster of Rochester, who had come up to see 
the fire, a Democratic lawyer, of Wellington, a Justice 
of the Peace at Wellington, and two or three students. 
The paper relied on was the warrant issued by U. S. 
Commissioner Chittenden and this was the only 
paper exhibited to most of the witnesses. The 
Justice said it was defective because it had no seal 
and because it was not issued by an officer of "the 
proper district;" but disclaimed any jurisdiction in 
the case and said they would have to go to Elyria — 
18 miles away, and sue out a writ of habeas corpus. 
Jennings offered to let a committee accompany him 
to Columbus and said if he failed to make out a case 
they might bring the negro back with them. The 
crowd hooted at this and said "Columbus was a 
little too far South." The fact that the warrant 
was issued by an official in the Southern District 
of Ohio and was being executed by officials from 
that district who intended to take John there before 
any inquiry was made, was a suspicious circumstance 
which confirmed the impression that it was a case 



The Oberlin- Wellington Rescue Cases 131 

of kidnapping. If there had been any provision for 
a trial by a jury in Lorain County, or by a U. S. 
official in Cleveland, and they were taking John there, 
there would have been no attempt at rescue. 

The train came in and went on, minus its in- 
tended passengers; it began to grow dark, and at 
last the cry went up, "We must get him out of 
there." "Get him out!" 

Richard Winsor, a little Englishman, of rather 
dark complexion, had gone up with a citizens' com- 
mittee to examine the "papers" and decided to stay 
when the rest retired. Jennings was busy keeping 
the door closed against the crowd outside, and the 
others, noting the insignificant appearance of Winsor, 
paid little attention to what he was doing. He took 
John off to one side, tried to put heart into him and 
instructed him just what to do when the door was 
opened. Then he wrote instructions on a slip of 
paper and passed them through a pipe hole in the 
wall to students whom he heard in the adjoining 
room. 

His instructions were to ask for another con- 
ference, get the door open in some way, and then 
all crowd in and, in the confusion, he and John would 
edge around and get out. This communication 
having been delivered, some one from the adjoining 
room managed to punch Jennings' head through 
the pipe hole and, as he let go the rope fastening, 
they forced the door open and entered the room, 
and as they crowded in, Winsor worked his way out, 
the colored boy stooping down behind him and 
clasping him tightly around the waist. He was 
hurried down stairs and thrown into the spring 
wagon, in which Simeon Bushnell was waiting, and 
driven to Oberlin. Not a shot was fired, nor a blow 
struck, except the slight punch to Jennings' head. 2 ° 2 



2 o 2 Winsor himself gives an account of the rescue in Oberlin Jubilee 
251 to 255. 



132 The Oberlin- Wellington Rescue Cases 

The thing was managed so cleverly that not 
one of the captors was able to tell just how John 
disappeared from the attic, and no one in the crowd 
identified Winsor. Several persons testified that 
Bushnell drove off with John and another negro. 

The facts about this part of the rescue and the 
further fact that John was stored for 24 hours in 
the attic of Professor James H. Fairchild's 2 ° 3 house 
were not known to more than three or four persons 
until 25 years later. Professor Fairchild's attic 
was chosen, much against his will, because he was 
about the last man in town who would be suspected 
of violating any law, no matter how bad the law 
might be. The next day, after dark, John was 
taken to the black swamp, made his way from 
there to a Lake port, crossed to Canada, and Oberlin 
saw him no more. 

While this rescue created great excitement in 
Oberlin and Wellington, it would have attracted 
little attention outside of those places except for 
what followed. The Cleveland Herald, Sept. 14, 
1858, had a brief paragraph concerning it. 204 The 
Cleveland Leader, Sept. 13, 1858, mentioned the 
fire, which burned out part of the business street 
of Wellington on the morning of the rescue, but said 
not a word about the rescue itself until eight days 
later. 2 ° 5 The Independent Democrat, and Lorain 
County Eagle (Dem.) of Elyria, September 15, 1858, 
gave brief accounts of it, the latter concluding 
with the following: — "We have heard of many 
foolish things being attempted in this world, but 
to think of carrying off a fugitive from Lorain County 
seems to us to cap the climax in the line of folly," The 
Painesville Telegraph, Sept. 16, 1858, published a 



208 James H. Fairchild was at this time Professor of Theology and Moral 
Philosophy. He was elected President of the college in 1866. 

201 This paragraph, still further condensed, appeared in the Ashtabula Tele- 
graph, Sept. 18, 1858; and Norwalk Reflector, Sept. 21, 1858. 

so' Cleveland Leader, Sept. 21, 1858; Western Reserve Chronicle, Sept. 22, 1858. 



The Oberlin- Wellington Rescue Cases 133 

brief item furnished by Ralph Plumb. The Jejfer- 
sonian Democrat, Chardon, Sept. 17, 1858, contained 
a rather detailed account of it written by an Oberlin 
student from Geauga County. Other Western Re- 
serve papers do not appear to have heard of it, until 
the United States District Attorney at Cleveland 
brought it into prominence by proceedings to indict 
the participants. 2 ° 6 

The Cleveland papers, of November 9, 10 and 
11, mentioned the empanneling of a Grand Jury 
and Judge Hiram V. Willson's charge to the Grand 
Jury 2 ° 7 . The Western Reserve papers generally 
noted this move on the part of the United States 
authorities. 2 ° 8 If the proposed indictments had 
been confined to those who took an active part in 
the rescue, such as Bushnell, Winsor, and the few 
men with guns who surrounded the hotel in Welling- 
ton, there would have been little public comment, 
but the Plain Dealer's announcement that "some 
forty citizens of Oberlin and Wellington will be 
indicted" indicated a purpose to do something more 
than punish active offenders against the law. Judge 
Willson was not content to declare the law, in his 
charge to the Grand Jury, and explain what would 
and what would not, constitute a violation of its pro- 
visions, but lowered the dignity of the Court and 
betrayed the animus of the whole proceeding by an 



206 The Cleveland Plaindealer said, Sept. 24, 1858: "We understand that those 
citizens of Oberlin and Wellington who assisted in rescuing a fugitive slave from 
the U. S. officers a short time since, are to be immediately prosecuted. See also 
Lorain County Eagle, Oct. 13, 1858. 

207 The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, Nov. 9, 1858: "The witnesses subpoenaed 
are all in this city, some twelve in number, and will shortly be examined by the 
Grand Jury of the United States Court, now in session. Oberlin is in a foam. 
It is thought some forty citizens of Oberlin and Wellington will be indicted for 
aiding fugutive slaves." which shows that the District Attorney had taken the 
Plain Dealer into his confidence. The Cleveland Herald, said, Nov. 10, 1858: 
"In the course of his charge he alluded to the recent rescue case at Wellington, 
impressing the necessity of sustaining the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Law." 

2 8 See Independent Democrat, Elyria, Nov.17, Dec. 8, and Dec. 15, 1858; Ashtabula 
Sentinel, Dec. 16; Guernsey Times, Dec. 23, 1858; Jeffersonian Democrat, Chardon. 
Dec. 10, 1858; Norwalk Reflector, Dec. 14, 1858; Oberlin Evangelist, Dec. 22, 1858; 
Painesville Telegraph, Nov. 11, 1858; Portage County Democrat, Dec. 15 and 29, 1858. 



134 The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 

intemperate assault upon the character and motives of 
conscientious objectors to that law, although he had 
to admit later in the charge that "The Fugitive 
Slave Law may, and unquestionably does, contain 
provisions repugnant to the moral sense of many 
good and conscientious people." He said: — 

"There are some who oppose the execution of this law 
from a declared sense of conscientious duty. There is, in 
fact, a sentiment prevalent in the community which arro- 
gates to human conduct a standard of right above, and 
independent of, human laws; and it makes the CONSCIENCE 
of each individual in society the TEST of his own AC- 
COUNTABILITY to the laws of the land. 

"While those who cherish this dogma claim and enjoy the 
protection of the law for their own lives and property, they 
are unwilling that the law should be operative for the pro- 
tection of the constitutional rights of others. It is a senti- 
ment semi-religious in its development, and is almost invar- 
iably characterized by intolerance and bigotry. The LEAD- 
ERS of those who acknowledge its obligations and advocate 
its sanctity are like the subtle prelates of the dark ages. They 
are versed in all they consider useful and sanctified learn- 
ing — trained in certain schools in New England to manage 
words, they are equally successful in the social circle to man- 
age hearts; seldom superstitious themselves, yet skilled in 
practising upon the superstition and credulity of others — 
FALSE, as it is natural a man should be whose dogmas im- 
pose upon all, who are not saints according to HIS CREED, 
the necessity of being hypocrites." 

The presumption of impartiality in the proceed- 
ings of the Grand Jury was negatived by the fact 
that one of the number was Lewis D. Boynton, 
the "reliable citizen" at whose house the plot for 
capturing John Price was arranged and whose son, 
Shakespeare, was one of the principal witnesses for 
the prosecution. It was also announced that he had 
been appointed Postmaster at Oberlin to succeed a 
Douglas Democrat, Munson. 2 ° 9 Otis Reed, another 
of the number, was Democratic Postmaster at Roots- 



so» Cleveland Leader, Oct. 29, 1858; Independent Democrat, Elyria, Oct. 7, 1858; 
Lorain County Eagle, Oct. 27, 1858. 



The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 135 

ville, 0. 2 1 ° Although the Western Reserve was 
overwhelmingly Republican in sentiment, none but 
Democrats were drawn for this service. An Ad- 
ministration measure was to be carried through, 
under the forms of law, by Administration appointees 
and supporters. It was, to say the least, a singular 
coincidence, that, out of the thousands of voters in 
Lorain County, Ohio, the U. S. Marshal should have 
selected the only man who had anything to do with 
the capture of John Price, and been paid for the 
same through his minor son. 

Thirty-seven men were indicted for violation 
of the Fugitive Slave Law — 21 from Oberlin and 16 
from Wellington. Among the Oberlin men were 
Henry E. Peck, Professor of Mental and Moral Philos- 
ophy, Ralph Plumb, the town lawyer and banker, 
and James M. Fitch, the college bookseller and sup- 
erintendent of the largest Sunday School in Northern 
Ohio. Not one of them had been to Wellington, 
or incited any one else to go, or had anything to do 
with the rescue. They were, however, outspoken 
anti-slavery men, and they were indicted, mainly, 
with a view to fixing a stigma on the town and college 
and to suppressing liberty of speech there and else- 
where. 

On the 7th of December the U. S. Marshal 
appeared in Oberlin with warrants for the arrest of 
21 of the persons indicted, and went first to the 
house of Professor Peck, who received him civilly 
and went with him to help him find and serve the 
others. Fifteen were served that day and all agreed 
to go up to Cleveland the next morning, and appear 
in Court. It was a very polite affair all around — 
quite unusual in criminal procedure. The Oberlin 
people appeared next morning as agreed, pleaded 
"not guilty" and announced that they were ready 
for trial. The District Attorney stated that he was 



'» Portage County Democrat, Dec. 29, 1858. 



136 The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 

not prepared, although he had had all his witnesses before 
the Grand Jury and had drawn up the indictments. 
After some debate and a refusal on the part of the 
now "prisoners" to furnish bail or even to go bail 
for each other, they were released on their own recog- 
nizances to appear when their cases were called for 
trial, and returned to their homes and usual occu- 
pations. 2 1 1 

Five others, when they learned that they had 
been indicted, voluntarily appeared, pleaded not 
guilty and were released on the same terms. William 
E. Lincoln was teaching school at Dublin, twelve 
miles from Columbus, when the indictments were 
found. He was arrested there, January 14, 1859, 



an The Cleveland Herald said, Dec. 9, 1858: "This announcement" [that the 
Rescuers were ready for trial] "staggered the Federal Attorney, Judge Belden, 
who did not dream but that these men like other criminals would ask postponement. 
He was then put on the defense and asked for delay. What other proof need the 
public have that this prosecution is merely for effect at Federal headquarters, 
than the fact that the District Attorney, who has had the whole matter under 
his control, who knows all the secrets of the Grand Jury room, who can lay his 
finger upon every witness for the prosecution, and who can hold such witnesses 
by the whole Federal force, asks a postponement of the trial. The Cleveland 
Leader said, Dec. 10, 1858: "The circumstances attending the rescue of kidnapped 
John at Wellington have been published. Democrats were present and active 
in a cause which roused the nobler feelings of man and made all eager to redress 
an outrage which all decent slaveholders reprehend. Not one of these has been 
indicted." The Western Reserve Chronicle said, Dec. 15, 1858, "We learn from the 
Cleveland papers of Friday that the indicted citizens of Oberin appeared in Court 
en Thursday and demanded an immediate trial. The U. S. Attorney faltered, 
stammered, looked confused, but finally said he was not ready for trial. * * * 
It is not too much to say that they will never be tried." And this proved to be 
true as to all but two. The Cleveland Plain Dealer had a very flippant article, 
Dec. 7, 1858, with staring headlines: 

"THE SIEGE OF OBERL1N. THIRTY-SEVEN OBERLINITES 

INDICTED BY THE U. S. GRAND JURY. FOR 

RESCUING A FUGITIVE SLAVE. CARRYING 

THE WAR INTO AFRICA." 

The animus of the prosecution was so clearly revealed by this article that it was 
reproduced — headlines and all — in the Ashtabula Sentinel, Dec. 16, 1858. Again 
the Plain Dealer said, Jan. 13, 1859, "The right to reclaim fugitives from labor 
tj in the Constitution. * * * A law has been passed whose main provisions 
are in accordance with that clause of the constitution. The details of the law we 
never liked" [Important admission!] "but with these Higher Law gentlemen it is 
the essence of the law, that power which reclaims the fugitive, which they resist * * * 

We are not prepared for a Theocracy just yet. These Priests and Professors 
of Oberlin are no doubt good Christians and sincere men, but they are very bad 
politicians. 'Much learning hath made them mad.' " An unfortunate parallel! 
The Oberlin men were quite content to be likened to St. Paul and to have the 
Plain Dealer assume the role of Festus. 



The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 137 

by deputy-Sheriff Davis of Franklin County, who had 
helped to kidnap John Price. Davis had with him 
an able-bodied constable and Lincoln was a thin, 
pale student, who made no resistance but merely 
asked time to change his clothes. Davis proceeded 
to put hand-cuffs on him in the presence of his fright- 
ened and crying pupils, drove him to Columbus 
and threw him into jail with criminals of the lowest 
type, kept him there over night, and took him next 
day to Cleveland, where he was released on the same 
terms as the others and, after going to Oberlin to 
borrow money enough to pay expenses, returned to 
his school. This exhibition of wanton brutality 
again stirred up public feeling, which had begun to 
subside after the release of the first prisoners on 
their own recognizances. 2 1 2 The people of Dublin , 
without distinction of party, held an indignation 
meeting before Lincoln's return and expressed their 
opinion of the brutal treatment he had received in 
the following series of resolutions, which were pub- 
lished in the Ohio State Journal, January — , 1859; 
and the Cleveland Herald, January 20, 1859: — 

"Resolved, That in this outrage, prompted mainly by per- 
sonal revenge, we see our own liberties attacked, and hereby 
express our unqualified disapprobation of this illegal, coward- 
ly and insulting use of official authority. 

"Resolved, That in the spirit expressed by our forefathers 
in their motto 'Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God,» 



21 J Cleveland Leader, Jan. 18 and 20, 1859; Cleveland Herald, Jan. 19, 20, 21 and 
April 13, 1859; Independent Democrat, Elyria, Jan. 19, 1859; Ashtabula Sentinel. 
Jan. 20, 1859; Portage County Democrat, Jan. 26, 1859; Ashtabula Telegraph, Jan. 
22, 1859. The Ohio Statesman, Columbus, Jan. — , 1859. published a card from 
Davis and attempted to justify his action. It said, "The officer was perfectly- 
right in putting hand-cuffs on Lincoln * * * The truth is, that the sight of such 
officers as him handcuffing their prisoners and walking them off through pale 
crowds of abolitionist sympathizers will very soon bring the Oberlin people, 
negroes and all, to a wholesome fear of the law." Another manifestation of 
"defective psychology!" The "moral effect" of such an exhibition was simply 
to make the blood of every humane man boil. The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, 
Jan. 18, 1859, "All there was wrong about it, the deputy overacting his part, as 
Zealots in law as well as in religion always will do, put the arrested in irons to 
bring him here. This was entirely wrong, but the Deputy alone was to blame 
for it, and he would not be considered to blame anywhere South of the National 
Road." 



138 The Oberlin- Wellington Rescue Cases 

we do heartily sympathize with said Lincoln and his fellow 
accused, and consider the charge laid against them an honor 
rather than a disgrace to all true Americans. 

"Resolved, That we also express our disapprobation of that 
law which compels us against the dictates of conscience and 
humanity, to assist in sending back a fellow citizen to slavery. 

"Resolved, That we hereby pledge ourselves, hereafter to 
oppose any such illegal use of official authority in our com- 
munity by either kidnappers, deputy marshals, or deputy 
marshals' deputies." 

A Dublin correspondent of the Herald wrote, 
"We feel more deeply grieved in regard to the affair, 
because Davis, before he became turnkey of the 
county jail, was a citizen here." 

Prominent lawyers in Cleveland and Elyria 
volunteered to defend the Rescuers, (as we shall call 
them hereafter), free of charge, and the services of 
Albert G. Riddle, Rufus P. Spalding, S. O. Griswold, 
and P. T. Backus, of Cleveland, and Stevenson 
Burke, then practising law in Elyria, were accepted. 
The cases were continued, in January, to March, 
and again, in March, to April 5. At each contin- 
uance, the Plain Dealer fulminated against the 
"Higher Law Apostles;" the Democratic county 
papers gave back faint echoes; and the impression 
was confirmed that the cases were kept alive only 
for political effect and never would be tried. 

But at last the stage was prepared; the witnesses 
were summoned; the government elected to try 
Simeon Bushnell first, and on April 5th the trial 
began. Public interest in the case had been steadily 
growing. The Court room was packed with a very 
intelligent and attentive body of spectators. Report- 
ers were in attendance for the four Cleveland papers 
and for the New York Tribune, Worcester (Mass.) 
Spy, Pittsburgh Commercial Journal and Bailey's 
Free South, "the only free paper in Kentucky." 2 J 3 



» > « The Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 4, 6 and 7, 1859; Cleveland Leader, April 6 , 
1859; Cleveland Herald, April 5, 1859. 



The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 139 

All the leading papers of the Western Reserve had 
correspondents in attendance and the editors of such 
papers as The Ashtabula Sentinel, Painesville Tele- 
graph, Portage County Democrat, Independent Demo- 
crat, of Elyria, and Western Reserve Chronicle were 
frequent visitors and recorded their impressions of 
Court and counsel, of the prisoners, and of witnesses 
and their testimony. 2 1 4 The Cleveland Plain Dealer, 
on April 4, in the usual flippant style of "Artemus 
Ward" (Charles F. Brown) the associate editor, 
announced the setting of the case for April 5, under 
the flaring headlines "THE OBERLIN RESCUE 
CASE. FREEDOM SHRIEKS," etc., etc. The 
daily reports of the testimony taken, arguments of 
counsel, etc., filled columns of the Cleveland dailies, 
the editors commented thereon in leading editorials, a 
column or more in length, and the local reporter con- 
tributed his little squibs describing the appearance of 
the witnesses, humorous incidents, etc. No case had 
ever before attracted such universal attention on 
the Western Reserve, or was watched with suchfa 
critical spirit. 2 1 5 

A struck jury had been demanded and the Clerk 



*k See Ashtabula Sentinel, April 14, 1859,; Western Reserve Chronicle, April 20, 
1859; Painesville Telegraph, April 21, 1859; Independent Democrat, Elyria, April 
13, 1859. 

« > 6 The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, April 4, 1859, after giving the names of the 
indicted, "Some of the above are negroes and some are not. Those that are not 
are apparently sorry that they ain't. * * * We look for lively times during 
this important trial. It is understood that the friends and admirers of the Res- 
cuers will be here in large numbers from all over the 'Preserve.' * * * The 
matter is creating a tremendous sensation all over the country. Exciting times are 
upon us." And, on April 6, 1859, "The United States Court room was densely 
packed yesterday and this forenoon with spectators, some of whom have come 
hundred of miles to hear the trial." And on April 7, 1859, "The United States 
Court Room continues to be crowded with spectators, many of whom are ladies 
and the Slave Rescue case grows daily more and more interesting." The an- 
nouncements in the other papers were less facetious. The Cleveland Leader said, 
April 6, 1859, "The trial is exciting great interest. The Court Room was crowded 
during the day, yesterday, with citizens and strangers. Reporters are here from 
the East and a detailed report is being taken for the Law Monthly. The indicted 
gentlemen came into Court yesterday morning and a more respectable body of 
prisoners have never appeared at a bar." The Cleveland Herald said, April 5, 
1859, "We think no criminal court ever had a more respectable class of prisoners 
in the criminal docks." 



140 The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 

got up a list of 40 names from which each side struck 
out 12, leaving 16 persons from which to select the 
12 who were to try the case. In a district where 
Republicans were largely in the majority, only ten 
of the forty selected by the Clerk were Republicans 
and those were struck off by the District Attorney. 
Even the Democrats, left after striking, were sub- 
jected to inquiry as to whether or not they approved 
the Fugitive Slave Law. The result, as intended, 
was an ultra partisan jury prejudiced, to a man, 
against any person entertaining anti-slavery views. 
The only man from the Western Reserve on the 
jury, as made up, was Daniel P. Rhodes, of Cleveland, 
father of J. F. Rhodes, the historian. It was dis- 
covered by counsel for the defendants, on the sixth 
day of the trial that one of the jurors, Charles N. 
Allen, of Cadiz, O., was an officer of the Court — a 
deputy Marshal! The fact was announced in open 
court, but, as no motion was made to discharge the 
jury, the Court made no order in the matter. Partisan 
feeling was more intense in the fifties, than it is at 
present, and came little short of personal enmity 
against those of the opposite party. This fact was 
much commented on, during and after the trial, and 
the verdict was discounted in advance and carried 
no more weight than a political manifesto. As 
there was real ground for complaint of the "hand- 
picked" juries empanneled in United States Courts, 
and as there is always danger that such juries will 
be made up of strongly biased partisans, although 
there is marked improvement in present procedure, 
it may be well to note the protests made at this 
time. 2 » 6 



n « The Oberlin Evangelist said, March 16, 1859. "The jury which is to try the 
first case is already struck and is geographically, and so far as we can learn, po- 
litically a singularity. Gathered from the Northern half of Ohio, it exhibits out 
of the sixteen names on the panel, only one from the Reserve. Taken from a dis- 
trict, the population of which numbers tens of thousands of anti-slavery men, and 
which is, by an overwhelming majority, Republican in politics, it has, so far as we 
have ascertained, neither an Abolitionist nor a Republican on the list. We will not 



The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 141 

Most of the facts narrated were proved on the 
trial which occupied ten days and was hard-fought 
from start to finish. The Judge and District Attor- 
ney knew that the administration at Washington 
expected them to do their duty and that a failure 
to convict and sentence would probably be visited 
with displeasure. There were many clashes be- 
tween opposing counsel and some ill temper was 
shown, the judge himself occasionally seeming ruffled. 
The tension was relieved, now and then, by a humor- 
ous incident, which was laughed at, all the more heart- 
ily, because of the previous strain. 

When the Kentucky giant, Jennings, took the 
stand he testified that he meant to take the nigger 
before Commissioner Chittenden at Columbus. He 
added, "Didn't take him there, however. There 



yet say that justice is to be mocked in the trial. We will say, however, that the 
present appearance is that such will be the fact." The Western Reserve Chronicle 
said, April 20, 1859, "The organization of the Federal Courts has often been the 
subject of comment; but never has such bitterness been felt on this subject as now, 
when it is seen that for the trial of political offences, juries are systematically 
packed so as to exclude any but partizans of the administration from the jury 
box. * * * all such attempts to enforce a hated and unconstitutional law 
among the people of Ohio * * * will rebound upon the head of the party 
which makes them and upon the accursed pro-slavery cause, which is at the bottom 
of them all." The Portage County Democrat said, April 20, 1859, "The Cleveland 
papers bring to light the fact that a 'struck jury' was summoned to try the Rescue 
cases. The Marshal selected forty names. The small-minded, infamous and 
vindictive District Attorney struck off every Republican and thus the jury was 
composed of twelve Democrats.'''' The Independent Democrat, Elyria, said April 
20, 1859, under the heading "A BURLESQUE OF JUSTICE,'' "The offence 
assumes a political character, inasmuch as the infamous law which they are ac- 
cused of violating is despised by one party and cherished by another. To try 
these men a Grand Jury was empannelled, every man of whom was a Judas Taney 
Democrat and one of them was the father of the boy who was hired to decoy the 
negro into the hands of his kidnappers. Such men would have no difficulty in 
finding an indictment, let the facts be what they might. With the hope of secur- 
ing a fair traverse jury to try the case, the defendants asked for a struck jury. 
This was granted and the names of forty men were put on the list, every man 
of whom were Taney Democrats except twelve, and these were immediately 
struck from the list, leaving the defendant to choose his men from that array of 
office-holders and office expectants. The result was just what the Marshal and 
the Clerk desired — a jury who would feel delighted at the opportunity of punishing 
the violators of their favorite Fugitive Slave Law. The Ohio State Journal said, 
April, 1859, "Under a bill of indictment found by a packed grand jury, thirty- 
seven citizens of Ohio have been put upon their trial before another packed jury 
and one of their number, Simeon Bushnell, had been found guilty of a violation of 
the infamous Fugitive Slave Law." 



142 The Oberlin- Wellington Rescue Cases 

was, as I thought, as much as a thousand people 
around and in the house * * * should think 
there were 500 guns in the crowd." 

The magnifying power of his fears provoked 
much laughter. 

Bacon, the claimant, testified that he told Jen- 
nings if he brought his boy, John, back, he would 
give him one-half of what the nigger would sell for. 
Jennings, who had not heard his testimony, swore 
that he "niver made no bargain with Bacon about 
pay for ketchin the nigger," and that what he did 
was done "out of pure neighborly regard," which 
produced another laugh. Being recalled later, after 
he had had an opportunity to become posted, he 
admitted that Bacon told him he would pay $500 
to any one who would bring back his boy John. 

When asked how he came to go to Boynton's 
the Sunday before the capture, he answered: 

"Wal, we was told that it would be dangerous 
to undertake to arrest the nigger in that town; so 
I went to old Mr. Warren and asked if he knowed of 
any one in Oberlin a man could put confidence in" 
(great laughter) "and he told me I could trust Boynton." 

When asked where he found and took possession 
of John, he said, at Wadsworth's hotel in Wellington. 
"Saw the people crowding in with guns asking for 
the men that had John and didn't stop to talk long." 

Mitchell proved a very swift witness and taxed 
the credulity of the audience to the breaking point 
by saying that John wanted to go back to his master. 
"I ast him — Don't you want to see your Mammy?" 
and he said "yes, but he would much rather see his 
old missus" (Laughter.) 

"He told me that he started to go back to Ken- 
tucky once; got as far as Columbus and the folks 
from Oberlin overtook him and brought him back!" 
(Great laughter.) 

When asked to describe his movements after 
they reached the hotel at Wellington, he said: 



The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 143 

"Took John up stairs while waiting for dinner. 
Took John down and had him eat dinner with us. 
That was the first time I ever eat with a nigger, 
though." (More laughter.) 

Asked to describe Bacon's boy, John, he went 
off into quite a dissertation on the varieties of negroes, 
and wound up by saying to the District Attorney: 
"I have seen a great many niggers whiter than you. 
Call them light mulattoes," which turned the laugh 
on the District Attorney. 

A witness for the prosecution, being asked if 
anything was said in the crowd about the "HIGHER 
LAW," answered: 

"I don't know, unless that was what they meant 
to send to Elyria about," which produced a laugh, 
in which the District Judge heartily joined. 

A witness for the defense kept calling the cap- 
tors, "Southerners." "Why do you call them South- 
erners?" asked the District Attorney. 

"Because Southerners are the men that usually 
carry of people." 

One witness said he staid in the crowd until 
the final rush was made. "Then I expected there 
would be some shootin' going on, and I didn't want 
to die just then, so I left." 

There could be no dispute about Bushnell's 
participation in the rescue of John Price, so the 
defense turned on a question of fact, whether John 
Price was Bacon's long lost slave, John, and ques- 
tions of law, whether he was properly in the custody 
of his captors, and whether, if so, Bushnell, having 
no personal notice or knowledge that John was a 
fugitive from service, and believing, on the con- 
trary, that he was not, was guilty of violating the 
law. 

On the question of identity, Bacon described 
his boy, John, in the Power of Attorney which he 
gave Jennings, as "about 5 feet 6 or 8 inches high, 
heavy set, copper colored and will weigh about 140 



144 The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 

or 150 pounds," and on the witness stand described 
him as "eighteen years old, about 5 feet 8 inches 
high, copper color and heavy built." He had not 
seen John Price and, of course, could not swear that 
John Price was his slave. 

Jennings described Bacon's boy as "21 or 22 
years old. Think he would weigh 165 or 170 lbs. 
Some would call John copper color. Copper color 
is between black and light mulatto." 

Mitchell described Bacon's boy as "about 5 feet 
8 or 10 inches high; weighs about 150 or 160 pounds. 
I should call him dark copper color." 

While the witnesses do not agree very well in 
their descriptions, this much seemed to be certain, 
that Bacon's slave was at least 5 feet 8 inches high, 
heavy set, weighed at least 150 lbs. and was copper 
colored. 

Five witnesses from Oberlin, who had known 
John Price well, described him as 5 ft. 4 or 5 inches 
high, weighing not over 125 or 130 lbs. and "black" 
"very black" "decidedly black." 

On the question of identity the verdict should 
have been for the defense. Thousands of negroes 
in the northern states would have fitted the descrip- 
tion of Bacon's slave John, better than John Price 
did, and one of them might have been taken just as 
well. Should honorable citizens be fined $1,000 and 
imprisoned six months for objecting? 

What probably turned the scale in favor of the 
prosecution was the admission of testimony by 
Jennings and Mitchell, against the objections of 
defendant's counsel, that John Price told them that 
he was Bacon's slave and that he wanted to go back. 
John Price, himself, would not have been allowed 
to testify under the Fugitive Slave Law, on the 
probable theory that no one could believe a negro 
under oath. But what any one else says he said 
when he was not under oath, is perfectly admissible. 
Such was the logic of a court bound to convict! 



The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 145 

It was called, in argument, an "admission," 
but John Price was not on trial and Simeon Bushnell 
had made no admissions and the alleged "admission" 
of John was not made in his presence. It is to be 
hoped that the day will never come when an American 
citizen may be sent to the penitentiary on the admis- 
sion of a third party that he ought to be there. 

Admitting, for the sake of argument, that John 
Price was Bacon's slave, was he properly arrested, 
and did the defendant know or have reason to believe 
that he was? The only paper deputy Marshal 
Lowe had when he arrested John, and the only 
paper shown to the Oberlin men who asked to see 
his authority, was the warrant issued by Commissioner 
Chittenden at Columbus. It had no seal — Lowe 
said it did not need any — and it was not issued by 
a commissioner of the "proper district," and there- 
fore had no validity. This was practically admitted 
by the prosecution, who rested their case on the 
power of attorney given by Bacon to Jennings. 
This power of attorney may have been shown to 
some of the Wellington men, but was not shown to 
the Oberlin men. Why? Manifestly because the 
description of the tall, heavy, copper-colored slave 
of Bacon did not fit the short, light-weight, very 
black negro, John Price, and any of the men who 
knew John Price would have detected the discrepancy 
at once. So the invalid warrant was flourished at 
Wellington, to avoid the question of identity, and 
the power of attorney was used in the trial to convict 
Bushnell, who had no knowledge of it at the time of 
the rescue. Jennings and Mitchell both swore that 
John Price was Bacon's slave, John; but their credi- 
bility was greatly shaken. Both were interested 
parties; both were indicted under the laws of Ohio 
for kidnapping John Price and might be tried soon; 
both made such incredible statements on the witness 
stand as to provoke the derisive laughter of the large 
audience; and Jennings was flatly contradicted by 



146 The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 

Bacon in the matter of agreed compensation for his 
services in capturing and delivering Bacon's John. 

While four attorneys appeared for the defense, 
but two were allowed to argue the case — A. G. Riddle 
and R. P. Spalding. They did not make the most 
of these points for the defense. In fact, Riddle 
began by stating the case "most strongly for the 
government," by way of introduction to a very 
rhetorical argument which amounted to nothing 
if that statement was correct. He said: — 

"As they" [Jennings] and party "thus held him in his 
agony, the defendant and his associates approached; and, 
knowing John was a slave in Kentucky, and how and by 
whom he was there held, that he had escaped, and how and 
for what purpose he was then seized and held; and knowing 
all this, they put forth their strong hands, wrenching John 
from the grasp of his captors, consigned him to the boundless 
realm of freedom ! This is what they did and all they did, 
and in so doing they obeyed the laws of God," etc. 

Almost any jury, after such a statement, would 
come to the conclusion that the main question of 
fact had been settled adversely to defendant and that 
thejrest was an argument on the law, addressed to 
theJCourt — or the public — but not to them. What 
did^they care about legal quibbles? And how could 
facts be altered by Riddle's rhetorical finish: — 

"I have sunk the lawyer — I have sunk the advocate, 
that I might stand before you in my unsullied manhood and 
appeal to you as men. 

"I have forgotten party prejudices that I might remember 
and remind you of issues involving the common rights, fran- 
chises, and liberties of us all as citizens of a great free State. 

"I have sunk the individual interest of the Defendant, that 
I might appeal to you to protect the interest of all living 
things, and vindicate the dignity and sovereignty of our 
glorious commonwealth." 

Almost the only question of fact argued by 
Judge Spalding was that Jennings and Lowe relied 
upon the warrant as their authority for arresting 
John Price and their attempt to take him out of the 



The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 147 

District to Columbus, and that this warrant was the 
only thing shown at Wellington. He began a lengthy 
argument on the Constitutionality of the Fugitive 
Slave Law as follows: — 

"Although I am not so vain as to imagine that I can, in 
this Court, procure a reversal of those decisions which have 
been made in other Federal Courts of this Union, I hold 
it to be none the less my duty to argue with the same ac- 
curacy, fidelity and fullness the questions involved, as 
though a sound argument would certainly influence the 
Court in coming to a right decision. 'Agitate! agitate! 
agitate!' is my motto, and my duty always, until the occasion 
for agitation is removed." 

He argued that the law was unconstitutional, 
because: — 

1. It provides pains and penalties for free 
citizens of Ohio, for acts concerning which they are 
not amenable to Congress. 

%. It overrides the writ of habeas corpus, the 
right to which is guaranteed by the Constitution. 

3. It violates the Northwestern Ordinance 
which limits the reclamation of slaves in Ohio to such 
as escape from the "original States." 

4. It denies to the person arrested as a fugitive 
from service the right of trial by jury. 

He argued also that the law required that the 
fugitive should be taken before a Court, Judge or 
Commissioner of the Northern District of Ohio, 
and that the captors were not protected in an attempt 
to carry John to the Southern District of Ohio. In 
conclusion, he said: — 

"I know full well * * * what the decisions of the 
highest tribunal in the Nation have been with reference to it; 
and I know as well the deference which in all ordinary cases 
is due from tribunals of inferior jurisdiction to its rulings. 
But, sir, I hold that so glaringly unjust a decision as the 
affirmation of the constitutionality of this act can bind no 
one; and had I the distinguished honor to occupy the seat 
which is so eminently filled by your Honor * * * I 
should feel bound to pronounce the Fugitive Slave law of 
1850 utterly unconstitutional, without force, and void; though 



148 The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 

in thus doing, I should risk an impeachment before the 
Senate of my country; and, Sir, should such an impeach- 
ment work my removal from office, I should proudly embrace 
it as a greater honor than has yet fallen to the lot of any 
Judicial officer of these United States !" 

The District Attorney was justified in saying, 
as he rose to make the final argument: "Are we in 
a Court of Justice? Or are we in a political hustings?" 
Willson disposed of most of the arguments by saying, 
in his charge to the jury: — 

"Much has been eloquently said by learned counsel that 
would be entitled to great weight and consideration if ad- 
dressed to the Congress of the United States, or to an eccle- 
siastical tribunal, where matters of casuistry are discussed 
and determined." 

The truth is that both Riddle and Spalding were 
ambitious for political honors, and, while both sym- 
pathized sincerely with the defendants when they 
offered their services, they valued the opportunity 
for self-advertisement, and worked it for all it was 
worth. 2 x 6a Riddle was elected to Congress in the fall 
of 1860, and Spalding, who had been a "Free Demo- 
crat" until the organization of the Republican party, 
and a Judge of the Ohio Supreme Court, was elected 
to Congress in 1862, 1864 and 1866. 

On the other hand, counsel for the Government 
were not free from political ambition and both Judge 
Bliss, who made the opening argument for the prose- 
cution, and District Attorney Belden, who closed, 
wandered from the real issues in the case and in- 
dulged in coarse vituperation of the "Saints of Ober- 
lin," Peck, Plumb and Fitch, who had been indicted 
but were not then on trial, and in sneering allusions 
to Christian precepts and practice. Judge Bliss 
argued that the fact that John was a fugitive was 
"proved by his being found in the common resort 



2'«» The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, April 14, 1859, "The three Oberlin At- 
torneys engaged in the Rescue cases are killing two birds with one stone each. 
They are defending the Rescuers and running for Congress at the same time." 



The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 149 

of fugitive slaves, to-wit, in Oberlin." There was no 
testimony in the case on which to base such a state- 
ment. Belden said, "Here are the Saints of Oberlin, 
Peck, Plumb, Fitch, to which are to be added Saints 
Spalding and Riddle and sub-Saint Bushnell — all 
saints of the Higher Law. * * * Don't talk 
of Higher Law as God's Law, it is Devil's law, and 
it would make a Hell upon earth." "Christ denounced 
idolatry, polygamy, but not a word against slavery." 
"Higher law people run into the predicament of free 
love and infidelity." "Do you teach the Bible at 
Oberlin, or do you point out the spires of the churches 
as Hell poles?" 217 

The dignity of the court was preserved in the 
charge to the jury; but the identity of John Price 
with Bacon's slave, John, was assumed by the court, 
instead of being submitted to the jury, and all the 
technical defenses were ruled out. As to the defense 
of want of knowledge as to whether John Price was 
a fugitive from labor, the Court charged the jury; 
"But that dark complexion, woolly head, and flat 
nose, with possession and claim of ownership, do 
afford prima facie evidence of the slavery and owner- 
ship charged." 

The verdict was "Guilty." 

Having secured this verdict in one case, the 
District Attorney thought all he had to do was to 
multiply it by 21 and convict the whole batch. He 
proposed to try the case of Charles Langston to the 
same jury. Counsel for the defendants objected 
that the jury had just formed and expressed an 
opinion and that no one of them was qualified to act 
as a juror in Langston's case. The court overruled 
the objection and said it was proper that this jury 
should try all the cases. 

Thereupon counsel for the defense lost their 



2 " The Cleveland Leader said. April 16, 1859. "The language and spirit of the 
address were in the worst possible taste, and evoked the indignation of the aud- 
ience, evinced, in an instance, by unmistakeable hisses." 



150 The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 

tempers and said that they would not stultify them- 
selves by attempting a defense before such a jury. 
They called the ruling "a villainous outrage," "a 
mockery of justice," "a monstrous proceeding," and 
used other language which savored of contempt 
of court. 217 a 

Then the District Attorney got mad and asked 
that all of the defendants be ordered into the custody 
of the Marshal, and it was so ordered. Then Judge 
Spalding requested that their recognizances be can- 
celed and muttered something about a gratuitous 
insult to men who had been in constant attendance 
and scrupulously obedient to every order of the 
court. 

It was a fierce squall while it lasted, but the 
Judge and District Attorney soon recovered their 
equipoise and, perceiving that the rulings and com- 
mitment were "bad politics" — say nothing of the 
law — now proposed that the prisoners should be 
released from the custody of the Marshal on renew- 
ing their personal recognizances. But the prisoners, 
having felt much aggrieved at the wanton insult 
and having also a keen instinct as to what was and 
what was not good politics, refused to execute new 
recognizances and left it to the Judge and District 
Attorney to back down and apologize, or send them 
to jail. The Judge, feeling that it was better that 
20 innocent men should suffer than that one guilty 
judge should admit his mistake, let them go to jail, 
where they remained for 85 days, every one of which 
was fruitful in converting thoughtful Whigs and 
Democrats into good Republicans. 

When the case of Charles Langston was called, 
on the following Monday, the judge did reverse 



21 ''Counsel might, if they had known about it, have cited the case of the 
Regicides, who were implicated in the beheading of Charles I, King of England. 
A separate jury was impanneled for each one of the alleged conspirators who de- 
manded it, as a matter of right. This was in 1660. Howell's State Trials, 
V. 1011, 1036. 1050, 1061, 1078, 1 1 17, 1 146, 1 177, 1 185 and 1196. 



The Oberlin- Wellington Rescue Cases 151 

himself, to the extent of ordering a new jury to be 
empaneled, and the trial proceeded. 

This time it took fifteen days to convict. A 
new point made by the District Attorney in this 
case was taken up and pressed to its logical but 
absurd conclusion by the attorneys for the defense, 
i. e., when Jennings came into the state of Ohio 
armed with a power of attorney from Bacon, he 
acted as the representative of the United States, 
and interference with him was levying war against 
the United States (!) Thus easily, under the Fugitive 
Slave Law could a slave owner make a great nation 
out of a very common man! 

Langston took no part in the actual rescue of 
John Price, but did insist, in talking with deputy 
Marshal Lowe, whom he knew personally, that 
the question of Bacon's, or as he then understood 
the claim, Jennings' ownership of John Price, should 
be settled by some court in the District in which he 
was found. The Court again assumed that John 
Price was Bacon's slave, John, and charged the jury, 
on the point raised by Langston, "But when a fugi- 
tive from labor is captured and held in any of the 
modes and under the authority designated by the 
Act of Congress of 1850, any interference by the State 
authorities has no justification, nor can those be justi- 
fied who invoke their interference, when they know the 
fugitive is thus held." The jury in this case stood 
10 to 1 for conviction, on the first ballot, and in the 
course of an hour the two were convinced that the 
Judge's charge left them no ground to stand on 
and they joined in the verdict of "guilty." 

Bushnell and Langston were sentenced on May 
11th, the former to 60 days' imprisonment, and to 
pay a fine of $600; the latter, owing to his impassioned 
plea on behalf of the poor and oppressed, which 
stirred the emotions of all present, drawing a fine 
of only $100 and imprisonment for 20 days. Lang- 
ston's plea was, in the estimation of all who heard it, 



152 The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 

the most eloquent and effective speech made during 
the entire proceedings. It was published in full 
in most of the Western Reserve papers and special 
attention called to it by leading editorials. 2 1 8 

To fully appreciate such a speech one must have 



218 The Cleveland Leader said, May 13, 1859, "Charles H. Langston yesterday- 
proved himself worthy of his Anglo-Saxon, Native American, African and Revo- 
lutionary blood. He stood respectful but unawed in the presence of Federal Court 
despotism and, like Paul of old, spoke the 'words of truth and soberness.' It will 
live in history. The children of the Free will read it in their school books and 
will execrate the memory of the Court and the Jury who consigned such a man 
to fine and imprisonment for a crime so God like!" * * * "The remarks of 
the defendant, Charles Langston, were noticeable for their force, clearness, earnest- 
ness, rhetoric, logic and truth. No speech has been made in the long course of 
these trials, that so appealed in itself to the hearts of the hearers as his. There 
was a power and solemnity to it which could not but be felt by all, whether friends 
or enemies to the colored race. He, at least, was a MAN." The Cleveland Plain 
Dealer, said. May 12, 1859, "On the opening of Court Mr. Langston appeared for 
sentence, and was asked if he had anything to say in mitigation of his sentence. 
To which Mr. Langston, who is a fine looking, light mulatto, responded both cour- 
teously and eloquently in manner and matter." The Ohio State Journal said, 
May 4, 1859, "Before the Judge passed sentence upon him, He made one of the 
most manly and eloquent speeches we ever read. * * * We will publish this 
speech." The Ashtabula Telegraph said. May 14, 1859, "he addressed the Court 
for half an hour riveting the attention of the audience and called out marks of 
applause and admiration, and we should think, from the report of it in the Herald 
that it was characterized by more good sense, good temper, force and dignity, 
than anything that has proceeded either from the Bench or the Prosecuting 
Attorneys since the commencement of these trials." The Independent Democrat, 
Elyria, said. May 18, 1859, "He stood up before the Judge and Jury and, in the 
presence of as many people as could crowd into the room, delivered the speech 
which will be found in another column. It was a scorching, withering, and elo- 
quent expose of the whole farcical trial and a complete annihilation of the soph- 
istry and arbitrary power of the Court and District Attorney, to procure a con- 
viction under an unjust and inhuman law. * * * Let it be read by every 
person. The Judge was so affected by the truths he uttered that he could scarcely 
proceed to pass sentence upon him." The Painesville Telegraph said, May 19, 
1859, "We publish it" [2 % columns on the editorial page] "because it is so noble 
and manly a vindication of himself. It is an eloquent contrast, both in aim and 
language, with that conduct which others connected with these trials have evinced. 
It is worth handing down. Read it and then reflect that, by the decision of the 
United States Supreme Court, he is one of those who have 'no rights that white 
men are bound to respect.' " The Ashtabula Sentinel said. May 19, 1859, "These 
trials were brought to a temporary close on Thursday last by the sentence of 
Langston, whose speech and the proceedings of that morning we give in full. Let 
us here say to the reader, you will miss a treat, if you overlook that speech. It is 
a masterly effort, * * * The spectacle of a man standing up in the face of 
tyranny, and telling the withering truths uttered in this speech is grand at any 
time; but when the effoi"t is made under such circumstances as surround this 
case it is sublime. Judge Willson evidently quailed under it." See also Cleveland 
Herald, May 12, 1859; Western Reserve Chronicle, May 18, 1859; Summit County 
Beacon, May 18, 1859; Jeffersonian Democrat, Chardon, May 20, 1859; Portage 
County Democrat, May 25, 1859; Oberlin Evangelist, May 25, 1859; Guernsey Times, 
May 26, 1859; Norwalk Reflector, May 24, 1859. 



The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 153 

seen the actor and heard the rich, musical voice, 
charged with deep feeling with which the words 
were uttered. A few extracts may be permitted 
here, as they portray, vividly, the pitiful condition 
of the colored man, bond or free, "under the law" 
in the fifties. 

"I know that the courts of this country, that the laws of 
this country, that the governmental machinery of this 
country, are so constituted as to oppress and outrage colored 
men, men of my complexion." 

"Some days prior to the 13th of September, 1858, happen- 
ing to be in Oberlin on a visit, I found the country round 
about there, and the village itself, filled with alarming 
rumors as to the fact that slave-catchers, kidnappers, negro- 
stealers, were lying hidden and skulking about, waiting some 
opportunity to get their bloody hands on some helpless 
creature to drag him back — or for the first time — into help- 
less and life-long bondage. These reports becoming current 
all over that neighborhood, old men, and women and inno- 
cent children became exceedingly alarmed for their safety. 
It was not uncommon to hear mothers say that they dare 
not send their children to school, for fear they would be 
caught up and carried off by the way. Some of these people 
had become free by long and patient toil at night, after 
working the long, long day for cruel masters, and thus at 
length getting money enough to buy their liberty. Others 
had become free by means of the good-will of their masters." 
[This had been the case with the Langston brothers and 
Augustus Chambers] "And there were others who had 
become free — to their everlasting honor I say it — by the 
exercise of their own God-given power — by escaping from 
the plantations of their masters." * * * 

"These three classes were in Oberlin, trembling alike for 
their safety, because they well knew their fate should those 
men-hunters get their hands on them. In the midst of such 
excitement, the 13th day of September was ushered in — 
a day ever to be remembered in the history of that place, 
and I presume no less in the history of this Court — on which 
those men, by lying devices, decoyed into a place where they 
could get their hands on him — I will not say a slave for I do 
not know that — but a man, a brother, who had a right to 
his liberty under the laws of God, under the laws of Nature, 
and under the Declaration of American Independence." 

"Being identified with that man by color, by race, by man- 
hood, by sympathies, such as God has implanted in us all, I 



154 The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 

felt it my duty to go and do what I could toward liberating 
him. * * * I went to Wellington, and hearing from the 
parties themselves by what authority the boy was held in 
custody, I conceived from what little knowledge I had of law 
that they had no right to hold him." 

"It is said that they had a warrant. Why then should 
they not establish its validity before the proper officers? 
And I stand here to-day sir, to say, that with an exception, 
of which I shall soon speak, to procure such a lawful investi- 
gation of the authority under which they claimed to act, was the 
part I took in that day's proceedings, and the only part. I 
supposed it to be my duty as a citizen of Ohio — excuse me 
for saying that, sir — as an outlaw of the United States 
[much sensation], to do what I could to secure at least this 
form of Justice to my brother whose liberty was in peril. 
Whatever more than that has been sworn to on this trial, as 
an act of mine, is false, ridiculously false." 

"I did say to Mr. Lowe, what I honestly believed to be the 
truth, that the crowd was very much excited, many of 
them averse to longer delay and bent upon a rescue at all 
hazards; and that he being an old acquaintance and friend 
of mind, I was anxious to extricate him from the dangerous 
position he occupied, and therefore advised that he urge 
Jennings to give the boy up. Further than this I did not 
say, either to him or to any one else. 

"The law under which I am arraigned is an unjust one, 
one made to crush the colored man, and one that outrages 
every feeling of Humanity, as well as every rule of Right. 
* * * I remember the excitement that prevailed through- 
out all the free States when it was passed; and I remember 
how often it has been said by individuals, conventions, com- 
munities and legislatures, that it never could be, never should 
be, and never was meant to be, enforced." 

"But I have another reason to offer why I should not be 
sentenced * * * I have not had a trial before a jury of 
my peers. * * * The Constitution of the United States 
guarantees — not merely to its citizens — but to all persons 
a trial before an impartial jury. I have had no such trial. 
The colored man is oppressed by certain universal and 
deeply fixed prejudices. Those jurors are well known to have 
shared largely in these prejudices, and I therefore consider 
that they were neither impartial, nor were they a jury of my 
peers. And the prejudices which white people have against 
colored men grow out of this fact; that we have, as a people, 
consented for two hundred years to be slaves of the whites. 
We have been scourged, crushed, and cruelly oppressed,. 



The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 155 

and have submitted to it all tamely, meekly, peaceably; I 
mean as a people, and with rare individual exceptions. 

* * * And while our people as a people submit, they will 
as a people be despised. * * * The jury came into the 
box with that feeling. They knew that they had that feel- 
ing and so the Court knows now, and knew then. The 
gentlemen who prosecute me have that feeling, the Court 
itself has that feeling and even the counsel who defended me 
have that feeling. 

"I was tried by a jury who were prejudiced; before a Court 
that was prejudiced, and defended, though ably, by counsel 
that were prejudiced." 

"One word more, sir, and I have done. I went to Well- 
ington, knowing that colored men have no rights in the 
United States which white men were bound to respect; 
that the courts had so decided; that Congress had so enacted; 
that the people had so decreed. There is not a spot in this 
wide country, not even by the altars of God * * * no, 
not in the old Philadelphia Hall, where any colored man 
may dare to ask a mercy of a white man. * * * When I 
appeal to Congress, they say he has a right to make me a 
slave, and when I appeal to your Honor, your Honor says he 
has a right to make me a slave, and if any man, white or 
black, seeks an investigation of that claim, they make them- 
selves amenable to the pains and penalties of the Fugitive 
Slave Act, for BLACK MEN HAVE NO RIGHTS WHICH 
WHITE MEN ARE BOUND TO RESPECT. [Great 
applause.] I, going to Wellington with the full knowledge 
of all this, knew that if that man was taken to Columbus, 
he was hopelessly gone, no matter whether he had ever 
been in slavery before or not. I knew that I was in the same 
situation myself, and that by the decision of your Honor, 
if any man whatever were to claim me as his slave and seize 
me, and my brother" [John M. Langston] "being a lawyer, 
should seek to get out a writ of habeas corpus to expose the 
falsity of the claim, he would be thrust into prison * * * 
for interfering with the man claiming to be in pursuit of a 
fugitive, and I, by the perjury of a solitary wretch, would, 

* * * be helplessly doomed to lifelong bondage, without 
the possibility of escape. 

"Some persons may say that there is no danger of free per- 
sons being seized and carried off as slaves. No one need labor 
under such a delusion, sir, four of the eight persons who were 
first carried back under the act of 1850, were afterwards 
proved to be free men. The pretended owner declared that 
they were not his, after his agent had 'satisfied the Com- 



156 The Ocerlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 

missioner' that they were by his oath. They were free per- 
sons, but wholly at the mercy of the oath of one man. * * * 
A letter was not long since found upon the person of a counter- 
feiter when arrested, addressed to him by some Southern 
Gentleman in which the writer says: 'Go among the niggers; 
find out their marks and scars; make good descriptions and 
send to me, and V 11 find masters for 'em.' 

"That is the way men are carried 'back' to slavery. 

"But I stand up here to say, that if for doing what I did 
on that day at Wellington, I am to go in jail for six months 
and pay a fine of a thousand dollars, according to the Fugi- 
tive Slave Law, and such is the protection the laws of this 
country afford me, I must take upon myself the responsi- 
bility of self -protection; and when I come to be claimed by 
some perjured wretch as his slave, I shall never be taken 
into slavery. 

"I stand here to say that I will do all I can, for any man 
thus seized and held, though the inevitable penalty of six 
months imprisonment and one thousand dollars fine for 
each offence hangs over me. We have a common humanity. 
You would do so; your manhood would require it; and no 
matter what the laws might be, you would honor yourself 
for doing it; your friends would honor you for doing it; your 
children through all generations would honor you for doing 
it; and every good and honest man would say, you had done 
rigW" 

[Great and prolonged applause, in spite of the efforts of 
the Court and the Marshal.] 

On the very day Langston made his eloquent 
plea and received his sentence, three of the Rescuers 
living in Wellington, appeared in Court by their 
attorney, Sherlock J. Andrews, and entered a plea of 
nolo contendere and were sentenced to pay a fine of 
$20 each, to pay the costs of the prosecution and to 
be committed to jail for twenty-four hours. They 
were persuaded to do this by the apparent hopeless- 
ness of making a successful defence and by the assur- 
ance of the District Attorney, that he did not con- 
sider them in reality responsible for the rescue; and 
that "The Oberlinites are the ones the Government 
wishes to punish. * * * We shall convict all 



The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases 157 

the Oberlinites." 2 1 9 This was confirmation from 
an official source of the opinion which had been 
generally formed and expressed that the main object 
of the prosecution was political rather than remedial. 
Oberlin (College and town) was singled out for 
attack, because of its freely expressed anti-slavery 
views and its sympathy for a mistreated and oppressed 
race. Free speech and humanitarian action were 
to be suppressed in Oberlin and that would bring 
about universal acquiescence in the extension of 
slavery and the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave 
Law. The Republican party would be pilloried, 
as advocating violations of law and of a solemn com- 
pact entered into for the preservation of the Union. 
Its speedy dissolution must inevitably follow. 2 2 ° 



J « • The Norwalk Reflector said, May 17, 1859, "Thus it is we are told by this too, 
of a slavery-ridden administration that it is not the violation of the infamous 
Fugitive Slave Law that is regarded with horror by him and his masters, but the 
love of liberty manifested by the men of Oberlin." The Oberlin Evangelist said, 
May 25, 1859, "Oberlin stands conspicuous for its hatred of oppression and its 
love of liberty. Now this bitter war against Oberlinites is only a deadly blow 
aimed at the very vitality of liberty. Pro-slavery Federal usurpation cares noth- 
ing for Oberlin as such. It is her love of liberty and hatred of oppression that must 
be crushed out." See also, Cleveland Leader, May 13, 1859; Cleveland Herald, May 
12, 1859; Ashtabula Sentinel, May 12, 1859; Independent Democrat, May 18, 1859; 
Portage County Democrat, May 18, 1859; Western Reserve Chronicle, May 18, 1859. 
The Ohio State Journal said. May 9, 1859, "It would seem then, that it is not so 
much a violation of the fugitive slave law which is to be punished by the United 
States, as the anti-slavery sentiment. That is the thing. It is Oberlin which 
must be put down. It is freedom of thought which must be crushed out." 

11 "The Ohio Statesman (Dem.) said April — , 1859, "The conviction of Bushnell 
at Cleveland for the rescue of a fugitive slave from the custody of the United 
States officers at Oberlin will have a very salutary effect upon the ferocious aboli- 
tionists of that classic vicinity. Presuming upon the perverted sentiment of the 
majority of the people of their village, and instigated by the harangues of political 
promoters and Professors, the Oberlinites have long defied the law. They have 
now found that it is not altogether powerless to vindicate itself. * * * The 
Republican Party has seen the day of its utmost fervor and strength, and its decline 
will now be rapid." [The italics are ours]. This was reprinted, with approval, 
in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 20, 1859; and, by way of exposure, in the 
Painesville Telegraph, April 28, 1859. The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, Jan. 19, 
1859, "The law we have always contended would be much less obnoxious and 
more effective were it shorn of certain useless and highly objectionable features;" 
but said, April 7, 1859, "Oberlinism was Abolitionism boiled down to the quintes- 
sence of bitterness. Its reputation in this respect has been world-wide. * * * 



158 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

HOTHOUSE GROWTH OF ANTI-SLAVERY 
SENTIMENT. 

EXTREME STATE-RIGHTS DOCTRINE 
ADVOCATED ON THE RESERVE. 

The thought that anti-slavery men could be 
forced, by prosecution and imprisonment, to give up, 
or suppress, their honest convictions was another 
instance of "defective psychology." Oberlin simply 
expressed, in words and action, feelings common 
to all humane persons who were unaffected, directly 
or indirectly, by selfish considerations or political 
ambition. It is hard for the present generation to 
understand how Democratic officials, editors and 



We hope that this Rescue case will open their eyes to their obligations to the 
Government under which they live and make them better and wiser citizens." 
The Lorain County Eagle (Dem.) said, Jan. 12, 1859; "We have believed and still 
believe that the Republican party, as a party attained and passed its zenith during 
the Kansas embroglio of 1856, and but for the exciting nature of that game, so 
high a point of numerical strength could never have been reached, and now it 
will require some new infusion of the Divine to kindle the smouldering embers 
of that decaying faction to that energy and strength which it manifested in the 
memorable campaign of 1856." 'The Portage Sentinel (Dem.) said, Oct. 7, 1858: 
"The Republican party is unmistakeably approaching its dissolution. * * * Its 
platform now lies like an unsightly pile in the gutter, and the party which made it 
is 'passing away — passing away.'" And again, April 21, 1859, after announcing 
the verdict in the Bushnell case, "We hope Judge Willson will put the sentence 
at such fine and imprisonment as will satisfy the 'higher-law' gentlemen of Oberlin 
that while among mortals, the laws must be obeyed. When a class of divines, 
professors and other learned men teach resistance to law as a Christian duty, if 
any of them are convicted, they ought to be punished to the utmost extent of the 
law. It will do them good. The Cleaveland Leader said, April — , 1859, "No 
intelligent man can resist the conviction that this is a political trial, with no other 
object than to make political capital for a set of fellows in Northern Ohio who use 
this as a means of advancing their party against the Republicans generally. * * * 
The fugitive slave act is felt by the people of Northern Ohio, to be so repugnant to 
every principle of right and to good government that they have treated it as a 
dead letter." The Ashtabula Sentinel said, April 14, 1859, "In order more effect- 
ually to crush out all free principles in Northern Ohio, and to establish the full 
and undisputed reign of Locofocos and kidnappers, warrants were issued for and 
indictments found against men who, by the very nature of known circumstances 
and facts could have had no possible connection with the rescue of the said John. 
* * * Nor was there any reason to suppose that Mr. Plumb was guilty of the 
offense laid to his charge. He is a lover of free principles, and an unflinching, un- 
compromising opponent of the spurious 'Democracy' taught by the official tools 
of the Legrees of the rice-swamps and cotton fields of the extreme South. This 
is the way the public treasure is to be expended with a lavish hand in attempting 
to compass his injury by the confiscation of his property and the incarceration of 
his person." 



Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 159 

politicians ever hoped to make political capital 
out of a vigorous enforcement of a law which "shocked 
the moral sense of a majority," to use Judge Willson's 
own language, and which nearly all Judges felt 
obliged to apologize for, when charging juries of 
fellow-citizens of the same political faith as them- 
selves. 2203 

How could any man hope that, in the long run, 
injustice and inhumanity would win in a battle 
against conscience and humanity? The vindictive 
assaults of counsel for the prosecution upon Oberlin 
men and ideas, in general, were resented, not merely 
by them but, by all who were prompted by like 
feelings, and furnished just the stimulus needed 
to revive "the utmost fervor and strength" and "to 
kindle anew the smouldering embers" of the Repub- 
lican party. The Fugitive Slave law, which had 
escaped criticism in Northern Ohio, after its first 
condemnation in 1850 and 1851, because no attempt 
had been made to enforce it, was now denounced 
anew in the pulpit, the press, in political conven- 
tions and public gatherings throughout the Re- 
serve. 2 2 1 , Judge Willson and the Democratic news- 



22° Supra, pp. 50 to S3 inch; 106, 108. In charging the jury in the Langston 
case, Judge Willson said, "Congressional legislation often becomes distasteful to 
a portion of the people of the country. It is so at the South with reference to laws 
enacted to suppress the slave-trade, and peculiarly so at the North with reference 
to the fugitive slave law of 1850. * * * It is the first duty of a jurior, who is 
sworn to determine the guilt or innocence of one charged with crime to divest him- 
self of any and all prejudices he may have against the law itself, or of any partiality, 
or ill-will, he may have towards the accused. * * * This caution is given. 
Gentlemen, not because it is feared that you will intentionally swerve from a true 
and just line of duty, but simply that you may guard and brace yourselves against 
any undue influence while considering and weighing the evidence in the case." 

JJ i Rev. James A. Thome, pastor of the West Side Congregational Church in 
Cleveland, and President of the Board of Education, a native of Kentucky and the 
son of a slaveholder who had emancipated his slaves, said in a sermon preached 
April 17, 1859, speaking of the District Attorney, Judge and Jury in the Rescue 
cases, "They have awakened the indignation of the people against themselves; 
and have concentrated their sympathies upon the prisoners. They have done 
what they could to exasperate the citizens of Northern Ohio against slave-catchers, 
and against their Federal allies, the subalterns of a corrupt administration, sta- 
tioned on this free soil to enforce an intolerable law. They have scattered fire- 
brands in every part of this Reserve and they will have enough to do to quench 
the flames, especially if they persist in a course which can only add fuel and fury 



160 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

papers and politicians were confronted with their 
own records made just after the enactment of the 
law and before the Northern wing of the Demo- 
cratic party had become sub-servient to the slave 



to them." The Independent Democrat, Elyria, said, April 27, 1859, "These case 
are creating an unprecedented excitement throughout the North. From Maine 
to Iowa comes up the deep and earnest protest of a wronged and injured people 
who justly regard this case as a cool attempt on the part of the Federal Govern- 
ment to override all State authority and compel the Freemen of the North to 
become the menial servants of those who hunt human chattels. The response to 
such mandates — we will never submit" The Oberlin Evangelist said, April 27, 1859. 
"But the general government is under the control of slave holders. Of this fact, 
the nation perhaps needs more stirring proof. To bring out this proof, suffering 
and wrong must fall heavily somewhere on the friends of freedom and Chris- 
tianity. It is well that it has fallen on those who shrink not from meeting the sacri- 
fice." The Faculty and Trustees of Oberlin College issued a statement "To their 
Friends and Patrons throughout the Country," in which they said, among other 
things, "How long this persecution is to continue we have no means of knowing. 
If the extreme penalty should be executed upon all of the accused and other vic- 
tims should follow, it would have no tendency to convince us of the righteousness 
of the fugitive act, nor can we give any guaranty that it would render man-hunting 
in our community more safe or more successful. * * * Our trials will, we 
trust be borne with cheerful patience, if by that means we can see the country 
aroused to shake off the tyranny now resting upon her. In this view of the case 
we cannot overlook the remarkable coincidence, that at the same moment when the 
Federal Courts at the North are inflicting severe penalties on those who, under 
the impulses of humanity, have rescued a fellow-man from bondage, at the South 
the same Courts are acquitting the pirates engaged in stealing men from their 
native land. * * * What can be more apparent than that the struggle be- 
tween Slavery and Freedom in this country must soon terminate in the downfall 
of one or the other?" This was published in the Oberlin Evangelist, May 2$, 1859, 
with this editorial comment, "Now this bitter war against Oberlinites is only a 
deadly blow aimed at the very vitality of Liberty. Pro-slavery Federal usurpation 
cares nothing for Oberlin as such. It is her love of Liberty and. hatred of oppression 
that must be crushed out. It is the first great act in the tragedy of the Dred Scott 
decision in Ohio, which purposes to crush out liberty everywhere, if the people 
will only submit." The Painesville Telegraph said, May 12, 1859, "He must be 
shortsighted indeed who cannot see that such partisan decisions as the Dred Scott 
decision by the Supreme Court of Washington and such transactions as the Dis- 
trict Court in Cleveland have been engaged in for several weeks past, must have 
the effect to awaken a sense of destestation and contempt with the people for all 
such malformation in the way of a Judiciary. These transactions are the sure 
precursors of revolution in these departments of our Government system." And 
again, July 28, 1859, "If our country ever frees herself from the crushing weight of 
the slave power, it must be by a determination of the people in the proper way 
to resist all unconstitutional efforts to compel them to sustain it; and to do this 
the people must know what their rights are. and how they have been invaded. 
The trial of the Oberlin Rescuers has done more than anything that has ever before 
transpired in this part of Ohio to inform the people upon the subject of State 
Rights and Federal encroachments. * * * The battles of Liberty must be 
fought again and again; and we may hope that an agitation, brought about by this 
and similar trials, will bring to the block of public opinion, and relieve from the 
cares of office, all who are for subverting our liberties and rights through uncon- 
stitutional federal legislation." 



Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 161 

power. 2 2 2 In answer to the argument frequently 
advanced that the act was an essential part of the 
Compromise Measures of 1850 and that its enact- 
ment and strict enforcement were necessary to pre- 
vent a dissolution of the Union, men began to inquire 
whether the Union was worth saving at any such 
sacrifice of principle and such individual and com- 
munity degradation. 2 2 3 The attempt to enforce 
the Fugitive Slave Law at the North excited all the 
more indignation because of the contemporaneous 
failure of United States Courts and juries at the 
South to convict, or even indict men guilty of open 
and notorious violation of the laws to suppress the 



» » 2 Supra, pp. 97 to 104, 106 to 108 incl. 2. Judge Spalding, at the beginning of his 
argument in the Bushnell case, read to the Court the resolutions drawn up by the 
committee of which Judge Willson was a member and passed at a meeting of 
Cleveland citizens in Oct. 1850. 

ss » Joshua R. Giddings said, in answer to threats of secession made by Mr. 
Bryant of Texas in the winter of 1858-9, "These threats have lost their effect either 
upon gentlemen in this Hall, or upon the country. * * * We are not alarmed 
at threats of a dissolution of this Union. And when I said that I would vote for a 
resolution of repeal of the Texas annexation, if the gentlemen would bring it for- 
ward, I meant that he should understand me as candid and sincere in that declara- 
tion. And, sir, we have done for Texas what we have done for no other State in this 
Union. We have paid her debts, and that to the disgrace of the men who took 
the money from our pockets to do it. * * * We conquered that territory 
by the force of our arms and conferred it upon Texas." The Ashtabula Sentinel 
published this speech, Jan. 20, 1859, with the comment "That is the way to meet 
these fire eaters. Tell them to go whenever they talk of dissolving the Union." 
The Painesville Telegraph said, March 31, 1859, "We have been thinking for some 
time that one thing must be done or this Union will be dissolved, and that is, 
Slavery must be abolished in this land." The Akron Beacon said, April — , 1859, 
"It is about time the question was made whether white men in the free States 
have any rights which the negro-catchers are bound to respect, and whether the 
State, or the kidnappers, are sovereign upon the soil of Ohio." [Quoted in Cleve- 
land Leader, April 22, 1859.] In a letter to Ralph Plumb, dated May 4, 1859, 
Giddings wrote, "The people, finding this government to have become 'destructive 
of the lives, the liberties and the happiness of its citizens, will Alter or Abolish it and 
organize its powers in such form as to them shall seem most Ikikely to effect their 
SAFETY and HAPPINESS." [Quoted in Cleveland Leader, May 6. 1859.] A 
Republican County Convention held at Salem. O., in May, 1859, passed the fol- 
lowing resolution, among others: — 

"Resolved, That if the unheard of doctrine of that court is to prevail as a sanction 
of law, that for one to counsel a legal and open investigation of the right of kidnap- 
pers to enter our borders and capture whomsoever their cupidity prompts — con- 
stitutes an offense, punishable under the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Act, 
then, have we reached the utmost verge of patience and meek submission, and are 
constrained with Patrick Henry to exclaim, 'is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as 
to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery.' " [Quoted in Ohio State Jour- 
nal, May 28, 1859.] 



162 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

African slave trade. The cases of the slaver Echo, 
the yacht Wanderer, and other vessels landing 
slaves in Georgia, South Carolina and Florida were 
closely watched by Northern editors and politicians 
and the various failures of justice, pointed out and 
commented upon. 2 2 4 Even Democratic papers called 



*2« The Cleveland Herald, Aug. 13, 1858. quoted from the Savannah Republican, 
Savannah News and Charleston Courier, accounts of the landing of a number of 
Africans, variously stated at from 450 to 750, from the bark E. A. Rawlins. The 
Cleveland Leader, and Herald reported, Aug. 31, the capture of the Slaver Echo 
and landing of over 300 negroes near Charleston, S. C, and followed up the an- 
nouncement with further particulars as to the seizure, the disposition made of the 
Africans and the prosecution of the guilty parties, quoting freely from Southern 
papers Sept. 1, 3, 7, 8, 11, 13, 22 and 25, 1858. A Charleston correspondent of the 
N. Y. Herald said: — "The slave crew were carried to our District jail this day 
handcuffed. Think of that! — Twenty men carried handcuffed through the 
streets of a slave-holding city by the President of the Young Men's Christian As- 
sociation! And for what? For purchasing negroes in Africa and bringing them 
to the New World. For rescuing undying souls from the night of the heathen 
barbarism and transporting them to the full blaze of the Christianity of the Nine- 
teenth Century." [Quoted, with similar passages from the Charleston Courier, 
and Mercury in the Herald, Sept. 3, 1858; and from the Charleston News and 
Richmond Enquirer, Sept. 7, 1858.] The philanthropy of the captors and the 
Southern planters was re-enforced by the facts, also stated in the Southern papers 
quoted, that the negroes were worth about $500 apiece and could be delivered on 
the coast of Cuba or Florida, at a cost of $10 or #15. They were sent to Liberia 
by the U. S. Government. [Cleveland Herald, Dec. 16. 1858.] The Cleveland 
Leader, Dec. 17, and Herald, Dec. 18, 1858, announced the landing of a cargo of 
350 negroes from the yacht, Wanderer, near Brunswick, Georgia, and gave further 
particulars, quoting from the Savannah Republican, Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle and 
Sentinel, Macon (Ga.) Journal, Augusta Dispatch, Columbus (Ga.) Enquirer, Dec. 
18, 23, 24, 29, 30 and 31, 1858. These negroes were scattered through the South — 
some being taken as far as Memphis — and sold for from $250 to #750 apiece, while 
slaves raised in Virginia brought from $1,000 to $1,500 each. The authorities 
succeeded in capturing but two of the lot, and the Savannah Republican [quoted 
by the Herald, March 1, 1859] proposed that the Governor of Georgia should take 
them and sell them at auction on the humane pretext that "this will be much better 
for the negroes than to be sent back to Africa by the Government." The Wash- 
ington correspondent of the N. Y. Post, under date of March 28, 1859, said : — 
"African importations continue at the South, and evidence is before the govern- 
ment showing that a large amount of capital is invested in the business * * * 
defenders of the Administration say, 'Measures have been taken by the govern- 
ment to enforce the laws.' Whereas the simple truth is that the government has 
not and will not enforce the laws at the South. It will do it by force of arms in 
Boston, or New York, but not in a single slave State." [Quoted in Cleveland 
Herald, April I, 1859.] The Memphis Avalanche said, April 9, 1859, "Three of the 
six native Africans brought here a few days since were sold yesterday * * * 
and brought respectively $750, $740 and $515. * * * These negroes are a 
part of the cargo of the yacht Wanderer, landed some months since." The Cleve- 
land Leader, May 7, 1859, quoted this and said. "Mr. Buchanan gives his personal 
attention to trials of citizens of Ohio for violating the Fugitive Slave Law, but 
has no information regarding the slave trade opened between the coast of Africa 
and the South." The Southern Guardian, Columbia, S. C, said July 29, 1859, 
"A gentleman at Tallahassee, Florida, received a letter from Jacksonville on Sunday 



Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 163 

attention to the utter disregard of these laws on the 
part of their Southern brethren, and warned them 
that they could not expect the North to comply 
with, or enforce the Fugitive Slave Law at the North, 
while they persisted in the South in ignoring the 
laws for the suppression of the African slave trade. 2 2 5 



last, postmarked 18th, on the back of which was endorsed 'a cargo of 
six hundred Africans has been landed on the Florida coast, near Smyrna." [Quoted 
in Cleveland Herald, August 4, 1859.] The Washington correspondent of the 
N. Y. Herald said, "The African slave trade is meeting with great success on the 
coast of Florida and the Government has not taken the first efficient step to arrest 
it. * * * during the past year a large number of slaves have been landed and 
successfully transported into the interior of the country, and he estimates the late 
increase of slave population by importation since 1848 at over fifteen thousand!" 
[Quoted in Cleveland Leader, July 15, 1849.] See also Cleveland Leader, March 8 and 
25; April 26; May 5, 9; June 25; July 30, and August 9, 1859; Ohio State Journal. 
June 4, 1859; Summit County Beacon, May — , 1859; Ashtabula Sentinel, Dec. 30 
1858; Ashtabula Telegraph, Sept. 4 and u;Dec. 18, i8s8;Feb. 26 and May 14, 1859; 
Guernsey Times, March 24, 1859; Jeffersonian Democrat.Dec. 17 and 24, 1858, and 
Jan. 7, 1859; Independent Democrat, Dec. 22 and 29, 1858, and June 8, 1859; Norwalk 
Reflector, Sept. 21. and Dec. 28, 1858; and March 8, 1859; Oberlin Evangelist, May 
25, 1859; Painesville Telegraph, Dec. 23 and 30, 1858; April 7 and 14, May 19 and 
June 9, 1859. 

»'« The Cleveland Plain Dealer said. Dec. 15. 1858, "Slaves in the South are 
selling at an average of $1,000 per head. They can be procured from the African 
coast for about $125 per head, securing to the trade a profit of over 700 per cent. 
* * * The money making mad-men of the South are getting not only numerous 
and powerful, but methodical. They call conventions and pass resolutions de- 
nouncing the law of the United States prohibiting the Slave Trade as unconsti- 
tutional.' In this way they commence creating a public opinion to sustain their 
future action. Then comes the case of the slaver Echo, a full narrative of its cap- 
ture being found in this day's paper, in which a South Carolina Jury refused to 
indict the crew, although there could not have been a doubt as to the evidence of 
their guilt. Lastly, a vessel makes its appearance freighted with Slaves from the 
African coast and meets with no difficulty in landing them where they are spirited 
away almost without observation. * * * 

This is, undoubtedly, but the commencement of this nefarious traffic. The 
tocsin has been sounded throughout the South that the law prohibiting it is un- 
constitutional. The owner of the slaver Echo has been set at liberty by a Southern 
jury, and there is now no law to punish the offense. One cargo has been success- 
fully landed, and others will follow fast." The Nashville Banner in speaking of 
these cases" [Echo and Wanderer] says, "We of the South complain of the North 
because the fanatics of that section rescue fugitive slaves from the custody of the 
U. S. officers. * * * Our fanatics are even worse than the fanatics of the North, 
for they add the crime of perjury to their want of respect for the law." [Quoted in 
Cleveland Leader, April 26, 1859.] The Logan Gazette (Dem.) said May — , 1859, 
"But the Federal Courts which have refused to punish the murderous man-stealers 
of the South, have not only violated law; they have outraged our common hu- 
manity and deserve the execration of mankind. It is idle and worse than idle for 
Southern men to ask or to hope for a permanent continuance of this State of 
things. If they will not punish the remorseless villain whom the civilized world 
has agreed to designate a pirate, because the language offers no word more sugges- 
tive of the infernal, the North will cease to punish as criminals those who spit upon 
the Fugitive law and who, in the name of God, infract and disregard its require- 



164 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

The Weekly News, Enterprise, Miss., April 14th, 
1859, published an advertisement, signed by eighteen 
persons who refer to firms in Mobile, offering to pay 
$300 per head for one thousand native Africans 
between the ages of fourteen and twenty. 2 2 6 Not one 
of the officers or crews of these slavers was punished 
for his violation of the laws against the African 
slave trade. And no attempt was made, after the 
deportation of the negroes brought in by the Echo, to 
return other imported Africans to their native land. 2 2 7 



ments. That law was always odious to the North, and to the whole North. 

* * * But if the South will do nothing for the enforcement of law, the pres- 
ervation of harmony and the propitiation of a sentiment, which ought to be as 
native to the South as to the North, why, then let us henceforth bid the fugitive 
God-Speed! on his way to Canada, and vex no more with onerous prosecutions 
the men who aid him on his perilous road." The Cincinnati Enquirer said, April — , 
1859, speaking of the acquittal of the Echo slaves, "The Charleston Mercury, the 
leading disunion paper of the South, supposes * * * every other case will be 
Echo to this. Suppose like considerations would influence juries and U. S. Com- 
missioners at the North, on the hearing of the fugitive-slave cases? How would 
the Mercury like it? How would the South like it?" 

!!t Cleveland Leader, and Herald, May 5, 1859. Ohio State Journal, June 27, 
1859. 

"' The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 13, 1858, quoted an editorial from the 
Columbia (S. C.) Guardian, under the heading "A NOVEL VIEW OF THE 
SLAVER ECHO'S CASE," as follows: "The slaves on board the Echo were regu- 
larly sold by the Africans and purchased by the captain of the Echo. They were 
therefore his bona fide property, and we think the officers of the Dolphin committed 
piracy, if there be piracy in the matter by forcibly taking possession of property 
that did not belong them. * * * The crew of the Echo will be here in a few 
days. Let them come. We hazard the assertion that not a hair of their heads 
will be harmed." The Ohio State Journal said, April 26, 1859, "If the negro is 
rescued a United States Marshal packs the Grand Jury to indite the rescuer and 
the Petit Jury to try them, and regards it as his first duty to secure a conviction. 

* * * But the slaver Echo was captured with a cargo of slaves on board; the 
officers and crew taken to Charlestion and tried in the District Court; the evidence 
was conclusive and not contested at all * * * but the parties were acquitted. 
In Savannah a similar trial is pending. Mr. Lamar, of the Wanderer, admits 
having been engaged in the slave trade, declares that he shall continue in it, and 
defies the Government. No one expects his conviction." And again, May 13, 
1859, "United States Laws against a traffic that is revolting to the humanity of the 
civilized world are treated as a mere farce. But at the North a failure to convict 
of a trespass on the fugitive slave law would cost the federal officers their places . 
The Mississipian said. May — , 1859, "Under these enactments the Echo prisoners 
have bcm indicted, tried and fount not guilty. We rejoice at this result. It es- 
tablishes the unavailability of the laws interdicting the African slave trade so far as 
their enforcement depends upon the public sentiment of the South." [Quoted in 
Ohio State Journal, May 17, 1859.] The Cleveland Plain Dealer said. May 23, 1859, 
under the heading "THE UNION SPLITTERS," "At both ends of this Confed- 
eracy the Union splitters are at work. An American vessel, a slave trader, is caught 
in the very act of piracy upon the high seas. She is taken into a Southern port, 



Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 165 

The Summit County Beacon said, May — , 1859: 

"Men naturally ask, how is it that the Fugitive Slave Act 
of 1850 has swallowed up all other penal legislation of Con- 
gress? Why is it that the whole energies of the Government 
are put forth for the enforcement of this law, so that its in- 
fraction, in one jot or title, is visited with instant pursuit; 
while the pirates who bring slaves from the coast of Africa 
into our Southern ports, are subjected to the faintest and 
most languid 'make believe' prosecution, and discharged to 
new criminal enterprises of the same nature? * * * 

"It is not without abundant grounds one may assert that 
a prime object of these rescue prosecutions is to awe the 
refractory men of Northern Ohio — who have a way of 
thinking for themselves and speaking as they think — to awe 
them into abject submission to the Fugitive Slave Law — and 
more than that, to the demands of insolent slave hunters, like 
this miserable Kentucky bloat, Anderson Jennings. * * * 
The slave importing pirates go unwhipt of justice, because 
slave traders like slave breeders are friendly to 'the institu- 
tion.' But five and thirty God fearing citizens of Ohio, men 
devoted to peaceful pursuits and of unblamed life and con- 
versation, are to be pursued, harrassed, imprisoned and 
despoiled of their goods, because in the exercise of ordinary 
Christian charity they rescued a black man from a gang of 
ruffians, whom they had every reason to believe bloody, 
lawless kidnappers. * * * In one point of view these 
Government trials are not without useful results. The 
Fugitive Slave law has always been odious, but nothing short 
of a trial under it could fully exemplify its devilish atrocity. 
That has been effectually done now. * * * Men utter 
their indignation against the infamous law and the officials 
who administer it, in tone of hearty indignation. Such 
expressions come from quiet men, not noisy politicians." 
Quoted in Leader, May 10, 1859. 



her crew arrested, tried by a Southern jury and acquitted. The law against piracy, 
which has been sanctioned by all parties and most scrupulously observed for half a 
century, is set aside as a thing of nought. * * * In the North, a law as old as 
the government, passed by the first Congress, the framers of the Constitution, 
signed by Washington and approved by Jefferson, is resisted on the ground that it 
conflicts with God's Higher Laws * * * thus the work of disunion goes on." 
And again, April 20, 1859. "The Telegraph says a verdict of ' not guilty' has been 
found in this case." [Slaver Echo] "What other verdict could be expected in 
such a case in such a country? What Oberlin is to the North, Charleston is to the 
South. The former has a law Higher than the Constitution, the latter a law lower 
than the Constitution." Also, Cleveland Leader, May 3, 19. 1859; Ashtabula 
Telegraph, April 2, and June II, 1859; Guernsey Times, April 28, 1859; Lorain 
County Eagle, April 6, 1859; Oberlin Evangelist. May 25. 1859; Western Reserve 
Chronicle, May 18, 1859. 



166 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

Not only was there a failure of justice in cases 
of African importations, but a very general protest 
in Southern newspapers against any attempt to 
enforce the laws interfering with the African slave- 
trade, and a general demand for the repeal of all 
such laws. 2 2 8 

Southern Conventions and public meetings lis- 
tened to speeches and passed resolutions, demanding 
the reopening of the slave trade and denouncing 
the laws of the United States which interfered with 
the same, as unconstitutional, opposed to the material 
and political progress of the South and not deserving 
respect or obedience. 2 2 9 



2 28 The Mississippi Democrat said, Dec. — , 1858, "The repeal of the unconsti- 
tutional laws prohibiting the African Slave Trade is becoming a necessity in the 
South. Everywhere in the South we hear the cry. 'More Slaves!' Without an 
increase of slave labor the South cannot progress. With a large increase of slaves 
the South will progress and grow too powerful to heed the threats of the Northern 
dis-Unionists. No new territory can be of use to the South unless the present 
number of her negro slaves is greatly augmented, which can be done only by the 
repeal of the laws against the slaves, and the free importation of African negroes" 
Quoted in the Jeffersonian Democrat, Dec. 24, 1858. The Guernsey Times said, 
March 24, 1859, "The Southern Citizen proposes a remedy for the high price of ne- 
groes as follows : 'We know a way to remedy that state of things. Advertise for a con- 
tract to land some forty thousand Africans at some point between Savannah and 
the Sabine River within twelve months. There will, of course, be a risk of capture 
by the philanthropic pirates; and some of the negroes will be lost; but that is the 
whole risk; as for felony, piracy, and hanging, that's all over.' " The Apalachi- 
cola (Fla.) Advertiser, a prominent journal of the Southern Democracy, said, April 
— , 1859, "Until the slave trade is opened and made legal, the South will push 
Slavery forward as a seasoning for every dish and whether the North likes it or not, 
like the Spanish with the garlic, it will have to be tasted in every course on the table. 
This is the settled and determined policy of the party at the South." Quoted in 
Ohio State Journal, April 14, 1859. The West Point (Miss.) Broad Axe said, May 
— , 1859, "The re-opening, or rather the legitimizing, of the African Slave Trade 
along with the acquisition of Cuba are the very least results that the States Rights 
Party of the South will think of being contented with. * * * The exigencies 
of the times demand that it should be re-opened — every principle of justice and 
humanity concur with the practice." Quoted in Ohio State Journal, May 18, 1859. 

22» The Ohio State Journal said, May 17, 1859, "A meeting at Edgefield Court 
House, S. C, 'Resolved, That the opening of the slave trade is a measure essential 
to the material progress, political power and social advancement of the South 
* * * That the laws in restriction of the foreign slave trade are dictated by a 
false and foreign sentiment, and, are not deserving therefore, of our obedience as a 
law abiding people.' A meeting in Claiborne County, Miss., resolved essentially 
the same. The following resolution was passed at a Democratic convention in 
Parker County, Texas, 'Resolved, That we demur to any law of Congress making 
the foreign slave trade piracy as a usurpation of power, not warranted by the 
Constitution of the United States and ought to be repealed.' The Southern Con- 
vention at Vicksburg adopted a resolution that the laws prohibiting the slave 
trade ought to be abolished." See also Ohio State Journal, June 4, 1859. 



Growth of Anti :Slavery Sentiment 167 

In a 4th of July (1859) address at Augusta, 
Georgia, Alexander H. Stephens, who had always 
been regarded at the North as a moderate and con- 
servative Whig not disposed to make extreme de- 
mands, boasted of the great progress already made 
by the slave power in the sixteen preceding years 
and advocated the acquisition by purchase or con- 
quest of Cuba, Chihuahua, Sonora, and other Central 
American countries. Among the gains for slavery 
he mentioned the annexation of Texas which, he 
said, could be divided so as to make five slave States; 
the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, the defeat 
of the Wilmot Proviso, and the decision of the United 
States Supreme Court which made it possible for 
Southern men to settle in all the Territories with 
their slave property and be protected by the Con- 
stitution against interference by the Courts or Legis- 
latures; and the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, 
of 1850, which facilitated the reclamation of run- 
away slaves. He had been asked what were the 
prospects for the future. He would repeat what he 
had said in 1850, that there was very little prospect 
of the South settling any Territory outside of Texas, 
"unless we increase our African stock. * * * You 
cannot make States without people; rivers and moun- 
tains do not make them and Slave States cannot be 
made without Africans. Every restriction has been 
taken off of slavery, a fugitive slave law has been 
granted. There are more men at the North, today, 
who believe in the sound and moral condition of 
slavery than when he went into Congress." [sixteen 
years before.] His address was reported in the 
Augusta Constitutionalist and copious extracts from 
it appeared in the Western Reserve newspapers. 2 3 ° 



2 3 » The Cleveland Leader said, July 19, 1859, "What he said becomes important 
from the fact that it undoubtedly presents, substantially, the slavery platform 
upon which the nominees of the Charleston Convention will be placed, and between 
which positions and those of the Republican party of the people of the United States 
will have to determine at the next Presidential election." The Guernsey Times 
said, July 28, 1859, "The Southern system of breeding negroes for the market 



168 Geowth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

Mr. Stephens' address is mentioned first because 
it presented, what might be termed, the "irreducible 
minimum" of pro-slavery demands. The Savannah 
News, June — , 1859, reported a speech by Col. 
Gaulden, made to "one of the largest and most atten- 
tive audiences ever assembled in that city, met for 
the purpose of taking into consideration the repeal 
of all laws prohibiting the African Slave Trade." 
The News said: — 

"He showed most conclusively that both the negro and 
Southern white men would be benefitted by the revival of the 
African slave trade — the former in a moral, social and re- 
ligious aspect, and the latter, in political and pecuniary 
advantages * * * and clearly exhibited to his appreci- 
ative auditory the entire unconstitutionality of the laws 
prohibiting the slave trade as was evinced in the unani- 
mous and enthusiastic adoption of the resolutions published 
below." 

Col. Gaulden offered the following resolutions, 
which were adopted unanimously, viz: 

Resolved, As the sense of this meeting, That African slavery 
is morally and legally right; that it has been a blessing to 
both races; that on the score of religion, morality and in- 
terest, it is the duty of the Southern people to import as 
many blacks direct from Africa as convenient. 
* * * * 

Resolved, In the opinion of this meeting, the laws of the 



does not meet the wants and demands of these trafficers in human flesh and bones, 
and there is but one way left to supply the deficiency, which is, to revive the slave 
trade and import them in sufficient quantities fresh from their native land, Africa. 
* * * This is now the policy, open and avowed, of the whole Democratic party 
of the Union. Will the free people of the free States sustain them?" The Jeffer- 
sonian Democrat said, July 22, 1859, "No better evidence than this speech of 
Mr. Stephens is needed to show that the present political agitation in our country 
arises from a conflict of two entirely irreconcilable principles, and that it must con- 
tinue until one of those principles shall prevail and 'crush out the other.' " The 
Independent Democrat, July 27, 1859, said, quoting Jacob Collamar of Vermont, 
with approval, "There is a set of men * * * who say the way to get out of all 
the difficulty on the subject of slavery is for us to stop talking about it. But can 
the talk stop? Did we make the occasion for talk? Did we annex Texas, and 
on purpose to add power to the slave States? Did we repeal the Missouri Com- 
promise Act? Did we go in for Cuba and for filibustering generally, wherever 
there is a chance to get slave territory? Do we go in for having the slave trade 
opened again? Our action has been and is wholly on the defensive. The ag- 
gressive movements come all from the other side." 



Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 169 

general Government prohibiting the importation of slaves 
from Africa, are all unconstitutional and void, and of no 
effect except as a foul blot on the most cherished institution 
of the South, and that they ought to be repealed by immediate 
legislation. 

A similar meeting was held at Waynesboro, 
Georgia, a similar address made by Judge Shaw- 
make, and similar resolutions adopted. 2 3 l 

The Savannah News, July 12, 1859, gave a full 
report of a speech made by Hon. L. W. Spratt in favor 
of opening the slave trade. It sets forth in such 
glowing terms the superior "Kultur" of the South, 
and the glorious nature of the "super-man," en- 
gendered thereby, that a few extracts should be 
inserted here, to enable readers of this generation 
to understand more fully what led to civil war in 
1861, and to its final outcome. 

"In every State beyond the South, whose political action 
I have been allowed to look into, there have been causes to 
disturb correct opinion. At the North, there is a responsi- 
bility to the masses; and political actors there can have no 
opinions but those the masses — necessarily of humble 
capacities and tastes — permit them to express. But here 
there is the perfect possibility. * * * That which, 
among foreign men, distinguishes the noble and the peer, 
distinguishes the people in all the States and cities of the 
South. They are of a ruling race, they feel the responsibilities 
of that position, they are braced by the sentiments of that 
condition — and among men so situated — among men without 
a master, but with the tone and temper of a master class, it is 
that we may justly look for centres of correct opinion." 

"My first reason for the advancement of this measure is, 
in the belief that it will give political power to the South and 
it is my firm conviction, that without political power there 
is no security for social and political right. The Constitu- 
tion is insufficient to protect them, for a sectional majority 
may pass what acts they please, regardless of the Constitu- 
tion. The Courts give no protection, for judges wear the 
ermine of that power whose acts they are to question, and 
they will be found, or they will be made, to hold accordant 
with the constitution, whatever acts a dominant majority 



»" Cleveland Herald, June 17, 1859. 



170 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

may pass. * * * For minorities there is no other right 
but revolution." 

"But, as equality was lost to the South by the suppression 
of the slave trade, so, would it seem, that the slave trade, 
would of necessity restore it. That trade reopened, slaves 
would come if not to the sea board, at least to the Western 
frontier, and for all who come, there would be a direct increase 
of representation in the national legislatures. There would 
also be a broader base for the ruling race to stand on. 3,500,000 
slaves support 6,000,000 masters now. Still more would 
give a basis for still more and every slave that comes, therefore, 
might be said to bring his master with him, and thus, to add 
more than twice his political value, to the importance of 
the South. 

"But to political power there is a necessity for States, as 
well as men, and slaves would quite as surely give them to us. 
Ten thousand masters failed to take Kansas, but so, would 
not have failed ten thousand slaves. Ten thousand of the 
rudest Africans that ever set foot upon our shores, imported, 
if need be, in Boston ships, and under Boston slave drivers, 
would have swept the free soil party from the land. There is 
not an abolitionist there, who would not have purchased a 
slave, at a price approaching the cost of importation, and so 
purchasing a slave, there is not an abolitionist there who would 
not have become as strong a propagandist of slavery as ever 
lived." 

"To an increase of power there must be population and of 
such a population as is necessary to extend the institutions 
of the South, there is no other source than Africa. Euro- 
peans will not come * * * into competition with our 
slaves, and while, therefore, they drift in millions to the 
North, they will not come to us. But if they should, it is 
to be feared they would not come to strengthen us, or to 
extend slavery, but to exclude the slave." 

"I venture to affirm that there are no men, at any point 
upon the surface of the earth so favored in their lot, so elevated 
in their natures, so just in their duties, and so ready for the 
trials of their lives, as are the six million masters in the 
Southern States." 

"When France shall reel again, as reel she doubtless will, 
into the delirium of liberty — when the peerage of England 
shall have yielded to the masses — when Democracy at the 
North shall hold its carnival — when all that is pure and noble 
shall have been dragged down — when all that is low and 
vile shall have mantled to the surface — when women shall 
have taken the places and habiliments of men — when Free 



Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 171 

Love unions and phalansteries shall pervade the land — when 
the sexes shall consort without the restraints of marriage, 
and when youths and maidens, drunk at noon day, and half 
naked, shall reel about the market places, the South will be 
serene and erect as she stands now — the slaves will be re- 
strained by power, the masters by the trusts of a superior 
position. * * * and if there be a hope for the North — 
a hope that she will ever ride the waves of bottomless perdi- 
tion that roll around her — it is in the fact that the South 
will stand by her and will lend a helping hand to rescue 
her!" 232 

On the other hand, conventions and public 
meetings were held in almost every county on the 
Western Reserve at which The Fugitive Slave Law 
was denounced in speeches and resolutions as un- 
constitutional, contrary to the laws of nature and 
the laws of God, and not to be obeyed. The speakers 
and resolutions took extreme States Rights ground, 
that the Constitution was a Federal Compact, con- 
ferring strictly limited powers on the government 
of the United States; that the Courts of the United 
States were not the sole judges of the Constitutionality 
of an act of Congress; that the citizens of Ohio were 
entitled to the protection of the State Executive 
and Courts in all matters touching their personal 
rights and liberty; and defiantly proposed to treat 
the Fugitive Slave Law as utterly void and of no 
effect. At the so-called "Felons' Feast," a banquet 
tendered January 11, 1859, by the citizens of Oberlin 
to the persons indicted for the rescue of John Price, 
to which many prominent citizens of Lorain County 
and Cleveland were invited, George G. Washburn, 



2 3 2 Quoted in Cleveland Herald, July 20, 1859. A Prussian junker could not have 
put the issue between autocracy and democracy more bluntly. The editor adds, 
"The respectable confidence gentlemen of the North who believe with the General 
Whig Committee, that there is no danger of the opening of the Foreign Slave Trade, 
should subscribe for a few Southern papers. Hardly a paper comes from the Southern 
cities without more or less on this subject, showing that there is no play in this 
matter, but a sober earnestness that should set the people of the Free States to 
thinking." And again, July 26, 1859, "Will the North mark the progress of this 
question? The South, in two years, will present an undivided front in favor of 
the repeal of laws against slave piracy. * * * And mark further, the Demo- 
cratic party will espouse the cause of the South." 



172 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

editor of the Independent Democrat, of Elyria, offered 
the following sentiment which met with a hearty 
response: — 

"THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT— Making war as it does 
upon all that is manly in man, we will hate it while we live, 
and bequeath our hatred to those who come after us when we 
die. No fines it can impose, or chains it can bind upon us, 
will ever command our obedience to its unrighteous behests." 

Ralph Plumb responded to the toast, "THE 
ALIEN AND SEDITION LAW OF 1798 AND 
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT OF 1850— Alike 
arbitrary, undemocratic and unconstitutional" and, 
as part of his speech, read from the Kentucky Reso- 
lutions the following: — 

"therefore the act of Congress passed July 14th, 1798, entitled 
'An Act in addition to an Act for the punishment of certain 
crimes against the United States, and all other of the acts 
which assume to create, define, or 'punish crimes, other than 
those enumerated in the Constitution, are altogether VOID 
and of NO FORCE, and that the power to create and define 
such other crimes is reserved and of right appertains solely 
and exclusively to the respective States, each within its own 
territory." 

and added, "Our country needs deliverance from 
the galling yoke of the slave power and it is near at 
hand." 2 3 3 

At a public meeting at Oberlin, April 13, 1859, 
Prof. James Monroe, Principal E. H. Fairchild 
and John M. Langston, brother of Charles Langston, 
made the principal speeches. The Cleveland Leader 
gave a report of the proceedings, April 26, 1859, 
and said, "Any outline of J. M. Langston's speech, 
as indeed is true of all the speeches, would fail to 
give an adequate idea of its thrilling effect." 

The following were among the resolutions 
adopted : — 



»»• Cleveland Leader, Jan. — . 1859; Cleveland Herald. Jan. — . 1859; Independ- 
ent Democrat. Jan. — , 1859. The italics are ours. 



Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 173 

"3d. Resolved, That we hold, with Jefferson and Jacksom 
that the Constitution of the United States has not made 
the Supreme Court of the nation the ultimate arbiter of the 
Government, whether State or National, and every private 
citizen must decide for himself whether any legitimate enact- 
ment or judicial decision be in accordance with or opposed 
to the fundamental law of the land. 

"4th. Resolved, That the Fugitive Slave Act is contrary 
to the spirit and teaching of our national Constitution, the 
principles of Christianity and the dictates of genuine Democ- 
racy. 

"5th. Resolved, That we rejoice in the noble, humane and 
constitutional position assumed by the State of Wisconsin 
in her late conflict with the Federal usurpation — a posi- 
tion nobly maintained and reasserted by her people in the 
recent State election, and we earnestly desire and confidently 
believe, that our own Executive and Judicial officers in 
Ohio, will afford the same protection to our persecuted fellow 
citizens, and thus vindicate the honor and sovereignty of the 
State." 

At a meeting in Painesville, April 25, 1859, 
called TO CONSIDER THE TREATMENT OF 
CITIZENS OF LORAIN COUNTY BY THE 
FEDERAL COURT AT CLEVELAND, Hon. John 
R. French said: — 

"In the midst of these accumulating outrages upon the 
Sovereignty of the State, it is not strange that men are for- 
getting the true nature of our Federal Government. They 
forget that Government is Federal, in contradistinction from 
National. That it sprang from the States and not from the 
People, that it is a confederation of independent and sovereign 
States, for few and special purposes and those purposes 
clearly defined and carefully set forth in the written compact." 

Hon. Wm. L. Perkins said: — 

"The Constitution as now administered was made just for 
the purpose of catching run-away slaves. There is no 
power in the Government to enforce the law against piracy 
in the South; but if we, at the North, in any manner aid the 
fleeing slave over this puddle of water (pointing to the North) 
* * * the whole power of the Government, the Courts 
with political juries, and the Army are brought into requisi- 
tion to bring the offender to account." 



174 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

Among the resolutions adopted were the follow- 
ing:— 

"The Fugitive Slave Law is not only clearly unconstitutional, 
but is also so repugnant to every principle of Justice and 
Humanity that no Constitution or Compact can make it 
binding; and so derogatory to the moral sense and self re- 
spect of a free and honorable people, that it deserves no argu- 
ment, but only execration and contempt." 2 3 4 

At a public meeting, held April 28, 1859, at 
Alliance, Ohio, the following resolutions, inter al., 
were adopted: — 

"2d. Resolved, That upon the soil of Ohio, the citizen is 
indebted to the authority of the State for protection to person 
and to property, and the advantages generally accruing from 
civil government. 

"3d. Resolved, Therefore that by every consideration which 
imposes allegiance to civil government it is the duty of the 
individual in any conflict of jurisdiction between a State and 
the Federal Government to uphold the sovereignty of the State 
in which he resides against interference of the Federal authori- 
ties. 2 3 5 

"5th. Resolved, That we call upon our fellow citizens 
throughout the State, through primary meetings like the 
present to give expression to public sentiment, that not only 
our own official servants, but the Nation and the world may 
learn whether they prefer to be the submissive slaves of the 
despotism which assails us, or live as freemen, or die in the 
attempt to do so." 2 3 6 

The Lorain County Republican Convention, 
held at Elyria, May 28, 1859, adopted the following 
resolutions among others: — 

"3. It is absurd to contend, that the State Government is 
just as Sovereign within its sphere as the Federal Govern- 
ment is within its sphere, and yet make the latter the sole 
judge of the extent of the powers of both." 

"5. The law of 1850 is further unconstitutional because it 
denies the right of trial by jury, and because it creates a 
swarm of petty judicial officers, the mode of whose appoint- 



*>« Painesville Telegraph, April 28, 1859; Cleveland Leader, April 28, 1859. 

' » 6 The italics are ours. 

»»• Cleveland Leader, May 2, 1859; Jeffersonian Democrat, May 6, 1859. 






Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 175 

ment and compensation is contrary to the provisions of the 
Constitution; and said law is not only clearly unconstitutional 
but it is exceedingly partial, oppressive and inhuman. 

"6. We agree with Henry B. Payne and the Democratic 
Legislature of 1851 that such a law can never receive the vol- 
untary co-operation of our people." 237 

Similar meetings and conventions were held, 
and similar resolutions adopted, in Columbiana, 
Erie, Medina and Portage counties. 2 3 8 Perhaps 
the most sensational of all was one held at Jefferson, 
Ashtabula County, May 7th, 1859, called "To 
take into consideration our duty in relation to the 
trials now in progress before the United States 
Court at Cleveland, for an alleged violation of the 
Fugitive Slave Act, and take such measures as may 
seem proper to protect the rights of our fellow citi- 
zens and ourselves against the tyrannies of the Fed- 
eral Government." Mr. Kellogg, who long repre- 
sented this District in the State Legislature, made a 
stirring speeech, saying among other things: — 

"The great question is now being determined by the people 
of this nation, and especially by the people of Ohio, whether 
or not a few slave holders shall not only lord it over the pros- 
trate and down-trodden African, but shall also be permitted 
to place the iron hand of despotism upon the necks of the 
free men and women of Ohio, and especially of this Thermo- 
plyae of Freedom, the Western Reserve." 

After analyzing the Fugitive Slave Act and 
pointing out its objectionable features, he gave an 
account of the seizure of John Price and his rescue 
at Wellington, and put the question: — 

"And now what say you, men and women of Jefferson? 
Shall the slave driver, or his more infamous hireling, the U. S. 
Marshal, be permitted to take from your village by virtue 
of that infamous enactment any individual, white or black, 
for the purpose of consigning such person to slavery? You 
say, NO! NO! and so said the men and women of Oberlin 






237 Independent Democrat, June I, 1859. 

a" Ohio State Journal, May 28, 1859. Cleveland Leader, April 25 and May 25 
and 30, 1859. Cleveland Herald, May 24, 1859. 



176 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

and Wellington. Aye! and so acted the men and women of 
Oberlin and Wellington, and for so saying and so acting, these 
free men and citizens of Ohio are now incarcerated, like 
common felons, in the jail of Cuyahoga County. 

'/The Supreme Court of Ohio, to whom we have heretofore 
looked with confidence to interpose the time-honored writ 
of right, the Habeas Corpus, and discharging our friends 
from an unlawful and unconstitutional imprisonment, has 
failed to meet our expectations. 

"And now, fellow citizens, these are some of the reasons 
that have brought us together this evening, and it behooves 
us to consider well our responsibilities as free men and 
citizens, for upon the action taken by us on this occasion 
may and probably does depend consequences of great mo- 
ment, not only to ourselves but to those that shall come 
after us." 

He was followed by State Senator Darius Cad- 
well, who said, among other things: — 

"Do we look upon these men" [the rescuers] "as criminals? 
No ! Every man here respects them the more for what they 
have done. Which of you will not say with me, / would have 
done it, and as God is my helper, I will do it whenever an 
opportunity presents itself. 

"Hiram V. Willsonis Judge of the Northern District of Ohio. 
In 1850, he could denounce the Fugitive Act, as unchristian 
and unconstitutional and ought not to be obeyed or respected 
* * * yet now, dazzled with the glittering of official gold, 
he presides over these trials, in a manner that makes the 
reputation of Scroggs and Jeffries respectable. And District 
Attorney Belden persecutes with the malignity of a viper, 
to atone for his apostacy to the Democratic party in 1848 — a 
jury is packed to aid them, composed of just such men as 
are sent up there for jurors from this County, men who are 
never deemed worthy of any trust in the community where 
they live, and thus more credit is given to Jennings as a 
witness — when he stands there confessing his infamous oc- 
cupation — than to a score of as pure and truthful men as 
ever breathed the air of heaven. * * * 

"The Slave Power construes the Constitution for us, and 
its tools among us seek to enforce their construction. Every 
law of Congress that conflicts with, or in any degree interferes, 
with slavery is held to be a violation of the Constitution, and 
is utterly set at defiance by the South, if not formally pro- 
nounced void by the Federal Judiciary * * * The law 
which declares those engaged in the foreign slave trade, 



Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 177 

pirates and worthy of death, is treated as nullity. Its open 
violators go unpunished and even unindicted, and respon- 
sible and influential traders and planters flauntingly offer 
through their public prints, to pay $300 a head for native 
born Africans, and when they do it, they know, as we know, 
that this government will not molest them, whatever they 
may do in that direction." 

Commenting on the refusal of the Ohio Supreme 
Court to grant a writ of habeas corpus, in the case 
of Simeon Bushnell, convicted, and held in jail, but 
not yet sentenced, for a violation of the Fugitive 
Slave Law, on the ground that the District Court 
had not taken final action and that such action 
might render habeas corpus superfluous, he added: — 

"The great object of Habeas Corpus, is to restore the im- 
prisoned to the freedom of which he is unjustly deprived, 
and I would not postpone his delivery from captivity for 
comity's sake, did I believe that the individual or the tribu- 
nal illegally held him. Almost every application for a Habeas 
Corpus is made by a person who is held by some other under 
color of law; and I would not stop for a discourse on cour- 
tesy with a tribunal that thus persecutingly tramples under 
foot the dearest rights of our citizens. If it be true that the 
National Government intends to resist the execution of a 
writ of Habeas Corpus granted by our State Courts, then in 
my opinion, the time has come to fight We have been ac- 
customed to think that we had rights independent of the 
Federal Government. // we have not, then we want no Fed- 
eral Government, unless we want a monarchy" 

Among the resolutions adopted were the follow- 
ing:— 

"Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with our friends 
now in prison at Cleveland, for their devotion to liberty; 
and assure them that when the Judiciary of our State shall 
refuse relief the necessity for action by the people will become 
obvious and no prison shall hold them. 

"That the enactment known as the Fugitive Slave Law 
was conceived by the enemies of the Union; it violates the 
spirit, as well as the express language of the Federal Con- 
stitution, in its terms; it is wantonly insulting to a free people; 
it violates the rights of the States and is intolerably tyranical 
and oppressive in its character. No person possessing the 
spirit of freedom will respect or obey it. 



178 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

"That if the people of the Western Reserve submit to such 
intolerance they deserve the name of Slaves. 

"That in view of the circumstances by which we are sur- 
rounded, we call upon the people of our several townships, 
to hold meetings and take measures for an efficient organiza- 
tion of those who are willing to act in this hour of Freedom's 
peril — by reviving the ancient Order of the 'Sons of Liberty,' 
or adopting such other measures as shall best prepare us to 
meet the impending emergencies." 2 3 9 

The threat of forcible resistance to the United 
States authorities in these resolutions was unmistak- 
able. But, not satisfied with that, as soon as they 
were adopted, Joshua R. Giddings, "the old war 
horse" as people of the Reserve delighted to call 
him, mounted the stand, explained that the "Sons 
of Liberty" was an organized body, in the days 
preceding the Revolution, who resisted the Stamp 
Act and forced the British Commissioner to resign 
his Royal Commission, and afterwards enacted the 
"Boston Tea Party," thus settling for the American 
colonies the principle of "No taxation without 
representation." He concluded by presenting a char- 
ter and by-laws of such a society, and after signing it 
himself asked all who valued their freedom to join 
him. Nearly a hundred names were enrolled on 
the spot. W. C. Howells, editor of the Ashtabula 
Sentinel and father of the novelist and literary critic, 
William D. Howells, wrote to the Cleveland Leader, 
"These men will be heard from when wanted." 2 4 ° 

This feeling, that a resort to force would be 
necessary to stop the intolerable execution of the 
Fugitive Slave Law in Ohio was spreading rapidly. 
The Portage County Democrat said, May 11, 1859, 

"We are approaching the conclusion, that the peaceful 
influence of the ballot box will never restore our Govern- 
ment to the principles of freedom, justice and equity on which 



2S » Cleveland Leader, May 10, 1859; Ashtabula Sentinel, May 12, 1859; Ashta- 
Telegraph, May 14, 1859; Portage County Democrat, May 25, 1859; Guernsey 
Times, May 19, 1859; Ohio State Journal, May — , 1859. 

J«° Cleveland Leader, May 10, 1859. 



Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 179 

it was founded, and from which it has so far departed by the 
infusion of the tyrant power of the South aided by 
miserable, corrupt doughfaces of the North, and the scarcely 
less criminal conservative timidities. 

"From the days of Magna Charta * * * down to the 
bloody strife on the plains of Kansas where freemen have 
triumphed what important advantage has been gained for 
freedom, what enlarged enjoyment of inalienable rights 
has been secured without direct or positive force, either in 
attack or defense? 

"Let no cheek pale then, at the prospect in the not distant 
future, of a revolution not bloodless ! The time has not yet 
come, but the doughfaced servility, and conservative timidity, 
and corrupt, cringing sycophancy of the times are fast has- 
tening the day. Let the day come and God speed the 
right. RESISTANCE TO TYRANTS IS OBEDIENCE 
TO GOD!" 

And in another place: — 

"Let no man recklessly throw away his life or liberty. 
When the conviction becomes fastened universally upon the 
minds of the people that the ballot box has failed as a remedy, 
another remedy will be sure to be applied. What that 
remedy will be, time will develop. A forcible writer has 
said, 'Revolution is the Genius of the World.' " 

On this same date the Democrat published a 
letter from Cleveland one and a quarter columns 
long, signed LIBERTY, describing the Court, counsel 
and prisoners and concluding as follows: — 

"The shortest, best and most practicable method of dis- 
posing of men thieves who come prowling around our homes 
is to set them dangling at the end of a rope four feet from the 
ground. We must no longer submit to the despotism of the 
Federal government. Our wrongs we must right, if we can, 
through the Ballot Box, and if this fail us, then through the 
Cartridge Box." 

The Cleveland Plain Dealer, May — , 1859, 
ridiculed these bellicose expressions, but the depth 
and sincerity of the feeling back of them was no 
longer to be disguised. Thoughtful men saw that 
to prevent dangerous collisions between local organ- 
izations and Federal authorities on some slight provo- 



180 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

cation, the public sentiment must find orderly 
expression in, and be regulated by, a central organi- 
zation, representing the whole Western Reserve. 
A call was issued, therefore, for a mass meeting to 
be held at Cleveland, May 24, 1859, addressed to 
"the foes of slavery and Despotism and the friends 
of State and Individual Rights," signed by over 
500 prominent citizens, and published in all the 
Republican papers and such others as were in sym- 
pathy with the movement. 

On the appointed day an immense crowd thronged 
the streets and public square of Cleveland. Thousands 
came on special trains over the Lake Shore, Cleveland 
& Pittsburg, Cleveland & Toledo, Cleveland & 
Columbus, and Cleveland & Mahoning railroads, 
and other thousands came in carriages or on horse- 
back. It was an orderly crowd, and not the slightest 
disturbance occurred to discredit the assembly f or 
injure the cause which was uppermost in the minds 
of all. The meeting was called to order by Judge 
R. P. Spalding, who concluded his address with 
these words of admonition: — 

"We have not met to set at defiance either the law or the 
officers of the law. We have met to manifest the will and 
determination of the people in a peaceful and constitutional 
manner. * * * Let us make known our rights and our 
determination to maintain those rights, even to the last 
issue; but as you value your position as Republicans, as 
members of that great party of the right, let good order char- 
acterize your doings and keep you from any illegal acts." 

The Committee on Resolutions contained such 
representative men as Senator B. F. Wade, James 
Monroe, W. H. Upson, J. R. French, Peter Hitch- 
cock, William T. Bascom, and James M. Ashley. 
The Committee on Permanent Organization con- 
tained men of nearly equal prominence, and one 
young man, thirty years of age, who was to dis- 
tinguish himself equally in war and in peace, and 
who possessed, in rare degree, the qualities of a 



Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 181 

scholar, a military leader and an executive officer — 
Jacob D. Cox, of Trumbull. 

Letters were read from William Dennison, the 
Republican candidate for Governor, Thomas Spo on- 
er, of Cincinnati, Philip Dorsheimer, of Buffalo, 
N. Y., Cassius M. Clay, of Kentucky, and others. 
Thos. Spooner wrote: — 

"It is time that we had declared against a further exten- 
sion of Slavery and that while we will not interfere with 
the rights of the States, we are determinedly fixed in our 
resolution, that the territories of our country shall be con- 
secrated to free labor. * * * that we will hold sacred 
and inviolable the rights of all, to life and liberty who may 
obtain a foothold in the Northwest — that no longer will we 
countenance a Judiciary who will 'under safe precedents' give 
up to slavery those who are seeking freedom." 

Mr. Dorsheimer wrote: — 

"I agree with you" [signers of the call] "that the aggres- 
sions of the Slave power, 'are sufficient to alarm every true 
patriot.' Every concession the North has made seems to 
have emboldened the South to make new demands * * * 
and finally Southern statesman seek to engage the Republic 
in an infamous and piratical traffic by the repeal of the exist- 
ing laws against the slave-trade." 

Cassius M. Clay wrote: — 

"I always hated and denounced the Fugitive Slave Law — 
not only because it violated the United States Constitution — 
the return of fugitives from labor being a duty imposed upon 
the Sates only * * * but because it violated all the 
safeguards of freedom, jeoparded the life, liberty and happi- 
ness, not only of the humble and hated African, but of every 
proud Saxon in the land and made justice a mockey in all 
its forms, and because it humiliated and degraded our manhood, 
and fitted us to be, ourselves, slaves, which our masters long 
since designed." 

"What think you of the decision of the Supreme Court 
that the black man has no right which a white man is bound 
to respect? What think you of their dicta that citizens of 
the free States are not citizens of the United States? What 
think you of the Dred Scott decision in its real purpose — that 
slavery is the only sovereignty in these States — in the lan- 
guage of the Kentucky and Kansas laws — a man's right to 



182 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

his slave 'is higher than all laws and constitutions^ What 
think you of that sort of a 'Higher LaioV 

"You intend to 'resolve,' to 'protest, 'to 'denounce.' Is that 
all? Then go home and wear your chains! I say, are you 
ready to fight? Not to fight the poor Judge at Cleveland — 
not to fight the Marshal — not to fight the miserable packed 
jury — not to fight the tools of the Despots — but the Despots 
themselves! * * * Are you ready for that? If not, give 
it up now!" 

"The 'Democracy' intend to rule the Union, or ruin the 
Union. I don't intend so far as I can prevent — so far as I 
can control or influence the Republican party, that they 
shall be allowed to do either. I want a man at the head of 
the party, who will be the platform of the party. I want no 
corn-stalk general, but a real general. 

"When the slave-holders say if you elect a Republican 
President, we will dissolve the Union, I don't want any one 
to put off the evil day which would follow such event by say- 
ing, 'let it slide!' but some one who would stand by the tomb 
of Andrew Jackson and become infused to such extent with 
the spirit of that old patriot, that he would be ready to cry 
out * * * By the eternal — the Union shall be preserved 
* * * That's what I mean, by asking you are you ready 
to fight ! If you have got your sentiments up to that manly 
pitch, I am with you all through to the end!" 

Many speeches were made which interested 
the crowd, and moved them to laughter or applause. 
Mr. Giddings made one of his characteristic speeches 
and appeared more than any other to voice the 
sentiments of the assembled people when he said: — 

"I would have a committee appointed to-day to apply 
to the first and nearest officer who has the power, that he 
shall issue a writ for the release of those prisoners [pointing 
to the jail] — not the men who have now been summoned to 
Columbus, but those who have not been sentenced. And I 
want to be appointed on that committee and if so, I will 
promise you that no sleep shall come to my eyelids this night 
until I have used my utmost endeavors to have these men 
released." 

There was immense applause, and still more 
when he added: — 

"If it was not for the Supreme Court of the State for which 
I have the utmost respect, / would ask for no judicial process, 



Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 183 

but those men should be brought before you today. * * * I 
know that the Democratic press throughout the country 
has represented me as counselling forcible resistance to this 
law and God knows it is the first truth they have ever told 
about me. 

"Now let all those who are ready and resolved to resist 
when all other means fail — when your rights are trampled 
into the dust — when the yoke is fixed upon your necks — 
and when the heel of oppression crushed your very life out — 
all those who are thus ready to resist the enforcement of 
this infamous Fugitive Slave Law — Speak out! [The roar 
which now arose from thousands of voices was deafening.]" 

The Committee on Resolutions reported a pre- 
amble and seven resolutions. The preamble recited, 
inter al. : 

"That the history of the government of the United States, 
as recently administered, is a history of repeated injuries 
and usurpations, all having in direct object the Africaniza- 
tion of this continent by the diffusion and establishment 
of slavery and the restriction and limitation of freedom. 
That the Dred Scott decision, reversing all the well-estab- 
lished rules which for ages have been the bulwark of personal 
liberty, yields its legitimate fruit in the recent atrocities on 
the Western Reserve." 

The first resolution sets out that the Constitu- 
tion and its amendments 

"constituted a general government for special purposes, and 
delegated to that government certain definite powers, reserv- 
ing to each State for itself the residuary mass of right to their 
own self-government; and that whensoever the general govern- 
ment assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthora- 
tive, void, and of no force, and being void, can derive no 
validity from mere judicial interpretation; * * * that 
this government created by this compact, was not made the 
exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated 
to itself * * * but that, as in all other cases of compact 
between parties having no common judge each party has 
an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions, as of 
the mode and measure of redress." 

The others, in part, set out: — 

"2d. That the law commonly known as the Fugitive 
Slave Law of 1850 was, in the opinion of this assembly, passed 



184 



Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 



by Congress in the exercise of powers improperly assumed; 

"3d That one of the most alarming symptoms of democracy 
in the General Government, is the pliant subserviency of 
the Supreme Court of the United States to the objects of 
party politics, thus greatly diminishing that public confi- 
dence in the judiciary so essential to good order" [and this] 
"renders it incumbent upon the people to consider what 
measures are necessary to restore that tribunal to its ancient 
estate." 

"4th. That, in the opinion of this assembly, an amendment 
of the federal judiciary system is indispensably necessary, 
so that the sovereignty of the States may be respected and 
individuals guarded from oppression. * * * it is strongly 
recommended that the life tenure of judges be abolished, 
and that the judicial office be limited to a term of years; 
that Congress so remodel the judicial circuits that a majority 
of citizens of the United States shall have a majority of the 
justices of the Supreme Court." 241 



2 * > To appreciate the feeling which prompted this resolution and others similar 
to it, passed by county and State Conventions, one should study the personnel 
of the U. S. Supreme Court. At the close of Jackson's administration, March 4, 
1837, the Court consisted of seven Justices, four from the free States and three 
from the slave States. By act of Congress, two more Justices were authorized, 
and soon after his inauguration. Van Buren appointed Catron, of Tennessee, and 
McKinley of Alabama. As thus constituted, the Court consisted of four justices 
from the free States and five from the slave States and this division of appoint- 
ments between free and slave States was maintained with brief intervals, from 
1837 to 1861. John McLean was the only justice appointed from the Northwest 
prior to the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in 1861. Such apportionment 
could not be based upon population, wealth, or the volume and importance of 
litigation originating in the respective sections. Its composition was such as to 
guarantee that the interests of slavery should be at all times protected. All but 
Benj. R. Curtis were appointed by Democratic Presidents. It was while such 
composition persisted that the important cases of Prigg v. Pennsylvania, 16 Pet. 
5395 Jones v. Van Zandt, 5 How. 215; Moore v. Illinois, 14 How. 13; Dred Scott 
v. Sandford, 19 How. 393; and Ableman v. Booth, 21 How. 506, were decided. See 
the following table for list of Justices appointed from 181 1 to 1861: — 



Name of 


State 


By Whom 


Date of 


Termination 


Succeeded 


Justice 




Appointed 


Commission 






Joseph Story 


Mass. 


Madison 


Nov. 18, '11 


Died, 1845 


Cushing 


Gabriel Duvall 


Md. 


Madison 


'11 


Ret. 1833 




Smith Thomspon 


N.Y. 


Monroe 


Dec. 8, '23 


Died, 1843 


Livingston 


Robert Trimble 


Ky. 


Adams 


May 9, '26 


Died, 1828 


Todd 


John McLean 


Ohio 


Jackson 


March 7, '29 


Died,1861 


Trimble 


Henry Baldwin 


Pa 


Jackson 


Jan. 6, '30 


Died, 1844 


Washington 


James M. Wayne 


Ga. 


Jackson 


Jan. 9, '35 


1867 


Johnson 


Roger B.Taney 


Md. 


Jackson 


March 15, '36 


Died, 1864 


Marshall 


Philip P. Barbour 


Va. 


Jackson 


March 15, '36 


Died, 1841 


Duvall 


John Catron 


Tenn. 


Van Buren 


March 8, '37 


Died, 1864 


Original 


John McKinley 


Ala. 


Van Buren 


Apil22,'37 
March 3, '41 


Died, 1852 


Original 


Peter V. Daniel 


Va. 


Van Buren 


Died, 1860 


Barbour 


Samuel Nelson 


N.Y. 


Tyler 


Feb. 14/45 


Res. 1872 


Thompson 


Levi Woodbury 


Mass. 


Tyler 


'45 


Died, 


Story 


Robt. C. Grier 


Penn. 


Polk 


Aug. 4, '46 


Res. 1870 


Baldwin 


Benj. R. Curtis 


Mass. 


Fillmore 


Sept. 22, '51 


Res. 1857 


Woodbury 


John A. Campbell 


Ala. 


Pierce 


March 22, '53 


Res. 1861 


McKinley 


Nathan Clifford 


Me. 


Buchanan 


Jan. 12, '58 


Died, 1881 


Curtis 



Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 185 

The 5th condemns the recent proceedings in 
the Federal Court of this District as an "employ- 
ment of the most disgraceful partisan means," to 
secure conviction, and as "without a parallel even 
in the modern history of despotism;" and proposed 
that a fund be raised by individual subscriptions 
of one dollar each to be collected and applied by 
"three commissioners appointed by this assembly 
to be called Commissioners of the Liberty Fund" 
for the relief of the prisoners. 

"6th. That our fellow citizens of Lorain County, who are 
now in jail * * * are entitled to their liberty, and must 
have it, peaceably and in conformity with the rules of law;" 
[and constitutes] "Joshua R. Giddings of Ashtabula County, 
Herman Canfield, of Medina County, and Robert F. Paine, 
of Cuyahoga County * * * a Committee to sue out the 
writ of habeas corpus in behalf of said prisoners without un- 
necessary delay. 

"7th. * * * that, stimulated as well by the wrongs 
and outrages which were the immediate occasion of this vast 
assemblage, * * * it is the manifest duty of Republi- 
cans everywhere to renew their united efforts with an energy 
not to be remitted until" [every branch of the federal govern- 
ment be restored to the] "pristine purity of Jeffersonian Re- 
publicanism." 

The formal work of the convention having been 
thus completed, Governor Chase was introduced 
and received with tremendous cheers. Much de- 
pended upon the tone of his remarks. The resolu- 
tions adopted were too tame to suit men of the stamp 
of Giddings and Clay, and some hoped for something 
more radical from the Chief Magistrate of the State. 
They were disappointed. With great dignity and 
soberness he stated: — 

"That he had not come to counsel any violence. The 
American people, having the control of all power by the ballot 
boxes, it was for them to do it in their legitimate way. 

"It was not necessary that we, the sovereigns of the land, 
should resort to any measures which could not be carried 
out at all times and under all circumstances. * * * We 
exist under a State Government and a Federal Government, 



186 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

and if the Government does wrong, turn it out. Dismiss 
the unworthy servants and put in those who will do your 
will." 

Speaking of habeas corpus proceedings for the 
release of Bushnell and Langston, then pending 
before the Supreme Court of the State, he said: — 

"If the process for the release of any prisoner should issue 
from the Courts of the State, he was free to say that so long 
as Ohio was a Sovereign State, that process should be executed. 

"We can reform the Judiciary, the Congress and the Ad- 
ministration, and although the process may be too slow to 
suit some of the more excited of the audience, yet none of 
them were so old that they might not see the operation of 
this remedy. He did not counsel revolutionary measures, 
but when his time came and his duty was plain he, as Governor 
of Ohio, would meet it as a man. 

"His deliberate judgment was that no person could be 
seized and captured while he was a citizen of any sovereign 
State, under the Constitution of the United States. 

"Let the courts be appealed to, and let them act in accord- 
ance with their consciences and their duty between themselves 
and their God. The great remedy is in the people themselves, 
at the ballot box. Elect men with back bone who will stand 
up for their rights, no matter what forces are arrayed 
against them." 

Peter Hitchcock and Columbus Delano being 
called on, also counseled against violence of any 
sort. The latter said: — 

"We must try law first — law and patience — but with it all, a 
patience and perseverance that shall never die, for the sup- 
pression of wrong. If you have not such a Court as you 
want, make such a court by the ballot box, and your laws will 
be executed. You are here in solemn, thoughtful, earnest, 
manly, and solid determination to do right and naught but 
right. Go on in that course and God will be with you." 

John M. Langston, a lawyer practicing in 
Oberlin, was introduced and said: "He hated the 
Fugitive Slave Law as he did the Democratic party, 
with a deep, unalterable hatred." He then went on 
with a clear, noble, bold utterance of sentiments 
which were clothed in as eloquent language as is 






Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 187 

often heard upon the floors of the halls of Congress. 
The listeners forgot that he was a black man — he 
spoke a white language such as few men can speak: — 

"If you can't hate slavery because it oppresses the black 
man in the Southern States, for God's sake, hate it for its 
enslavement of white men. Don't say it is confined to the 
South, here it is on our neighbors and citizens. * * * As 
we love our friends, as we love our God-given rights, as we 
love our homes, as we love ourselves, as we love our God, 
let us this afternoon swear eternal enmity to the law. Ex- 
haust the law first, for these men, but if this fail, for God's 
sake, fall back upon our own natural rights, and say to the 
prison walls 'come down, and set these men at liberty.' " 
[Cheers.] 

Asa Mahan, former President of Oberlin Col- 
lege, said he 

"liked the Fugitive Slave Law. [sensation] He liked it 
because it could not be executed; and again because it was 
political death to the party that originated and executed it." 

The number of persons present upon the square 
to listen to the speakers was, at the lowest estimate, 
from ten thousand to twelve thousand. From the 
speakers' stand an almost unbroken sea of heads 
covered the space all over that section of the Park 
from the fountain to the fences. The trees, fences, 
windows and steps of the custom house were crowded 
with interested spectators, the whole forming a con- 
gregation equal to several Fourth of July celebra- 
tions. 

The proceedings were reported at length in the 
Cleveland Republican papers, 2 4 2 and, with more 
or less fulness, in other city and county newspapers. 2 4 3 
The importance of the meeting was generally recog- 



»«» Cleveland Leader, May 25, 1859; Cleveland Herald, May 24 and 25, 1859. 

»«» Cincinnati Gazette, May 26, 1859; Ohio State Journal, May 25 and 26, 1859; 
Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 24 and 25, 1859; Ashtabula Sentinel, May 26 and June 
2, 1859; Ashtabula Telegraph, May 28,1859; Guernsey Times, June 2, 1859; Jeffer- 
sonian Democrat, May 27, 1859; Independent Democrat, June 1, 1859; Norwalk 
Reflector, May 31, 1859; Oberlin Evangelist, June 8, 1859; Painesville Telegraph, 
May 26, 1859; Portage County Democrat, June I, 1859; Western Reserve Chronicle, 
June 1, 1859. 



188 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

nized and the speech of Governor Chase, and the 
resolutions adopted, were generally commended. 2 4 4 
Some of the more radical papers were not content 
with their moderate tone and with the slow process 
recommended for righting recognized wrongs. 2 4 5 



244 The Cincinnati Gazette said, May 26, 1859, after quoting from the editorial 
of the Ohio State Journal, "The grounds of all this excitement are, first, an odious 
statute, very widely deemed unconstitutional in many of its provisions, for the 
reclamation of runaway slaves on free soil, and secondly an intolerably tyrannical 
method of enforcing the law, in the particular cases recently arising on the Western 
Reserve. The Fugitive Slave Law, was, of purpose, made as offensive as possible 
to the North. It has never done slave-holders any real good, and it never will. 
* * * But when enforced by federal officials, after the manner Willson, Belden 
& Co., have chosen to adopt, it cannot fail to awaken intense popular indignation. 
It ought to do so." [Quoted with approval in Cleveland Leader, May 27, 1859.] 
The Cleveland Herald, said. May 25, 1859, "The African Democracy have our 
sympathy in their disappointment at the result of the doings of the Convention, 
but it was deemed utterly impossible — even to accomodate them — to tear down a 
jail, or 'groan' Federal officials. The 'Declaration' adopted by the meeting; the 
letters read from invited guests; the speeches made by the different orators; the 
respectability and good behaviour of the mass of thousands collected together 
under circumstances of Federal oppression and arrogance having no parallel in 
the history of Ohio, speak for the character of the meeting, the forbearance of the 
people of the Reserve, and the determination of the Republican party to 'right 
their wrongs' in a manner consistent with the spirit of our free institutions. * * * 
The slave States could not present such a gathering of law-abiding men, and let 
the case be reversed, and not a stone of a jail in a slave State would have remained 
one upon the other." The Ohio State Journal said, May 28, 1859, "The proceedings 
were pervaded by a spirit of determined resistance to the legal outrage that is 
being perpetrated against free citizens of Ohio, under the assumed sanction of 
the Constitution; yet that resistance is to be made effective through the just opera- 
tion of law, and a resort to the Republican remedy, the ballot box. Never was 
there a more sublime moral spectacle than that presented by this assemblage of 
freemen. * * * Amidst all these incentives to violent and extreme action, 
amidst all these appeals of strong emotion and deep conviction of their wrongs, 
they looked beyond the impassioned hour, upon the clear future. They saw the 
ultimate triumph of THE RIGHT; and the sight inspired them with patience 
and forbearance, while it nerved them with fresh energy and determination." The 
Ashtabula Sentinel said, May 26, 1859, "The best possible order prevailed, though 
a deep feeling of the wrong that called the people together was manifest. The 
meeting proved that the people of the Reserve are sound to the core, determined 
to defend their rights; yet careful of preserving order." The Oberlin Evangelist 
said, June 8, 1859. "The tone and temper of the meeting was fervid, yet consider- 
ate, true to freedom, yet true also to good order. The doctrine maintained by 
the resolutions and by all the speakers is this — The Fugitive Slave act unconstitution- 
al and void, to be never obeyed, but to be resisted by all legal means until those means 
shall have been fully exhausted. Beyond this point no definite action is taken. Evi- 
dently the speakers all felt a good degree of confidence that these means would 
prove effective." See also Toledo Blade, May — , 1859; Norwich (Conn.) Courier, 
June — , 1859; Ashtabula Telegraph, May 28, 1859; Independent Democrat, June 
I, 1859; Norwalk Reflector, June 7, 1859; Paine sville Telegraph, May 26, 1859. 

146 The Portage County Democrat said, June I, 1859, "Not many communities, 
so highly and justly excited by flagrant wrongs, would have refrained from exe- 
cuting summary vengeance upon the authors of so much mischief, would have 



Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 189 

One fact, that tended to tranquilize the meeting 
was that, in pursuance of the policy of first exhaust- 
ing all legal remedies, an application had been made 
to the Supreme Court of Ohio for a writ of habeas 
corpus and the release of Simeon Bushnell and 
Charles H. Langston, who had been sentenced to 
imprisonment in the Cuyahoga jail, as well as to 
fines and Court costs. The case had been very 
ably argued on behalf of the prisoners by Hon. A. G. 
Riddle and by Christopher P. Wolcott, Attorney 
General of the State, the latter acting under instruc- 
tions of Governor Chase. The Government was 
represented by TJ. S. District Attorney Belden and 
by Noah H. Swayne of Columbus, later a Justice of 
the United States Supreme Court, who submitted 
the case on their brief. A decision was expected 
soon. All of the Judges of that Court had been 
elected as Republicans and were known as anti- 
slavery men, and there was a general belief, shared 
by the Democrats, that the Court would grant the 
writ and discharge the prisoners. 2 4 6 The Supreme 
Court of Wisconsin had granted a similar writ, in 
the case of Sherman M. Booth v. U. S. Marshal 
Ableman, 3 Wise. 13, and it is altogether probable that 



refrained from relieving innocent friends from unjust restraint of their personal 
freedom. But the day of vengeance was postponed. No prisons fell, no Hamans 
hung. But the day of reckoning will not always tarry." 

148 The Ohio Statesman (Dem.) said. May 26, 1859, in anticipation of such a 
decision, — "And what then? We apprehend the U. S. Marshal will at once take 
Bushnell and Langston into custody and proceed to carry out the order of the 
United States District Court. Gov. Chase must then come to the rescue and a 
collision will at once ensue. * * * The Democratic party of Ohio and all the 
Union-loving men of other parties will be found on one side, and the treasonable 
squad of Abolitionists and Disunionists on the other. The law of Congress will 
be sustained, and the traitors to their country, to law, order and good government, 
will be overwhelmed." The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, May 21, 1859, "We are 
prepared to see the Judges, raised into power by their subservience to the treason- 
able elements of the country, prostitute the sacred authority with which they are 
invested, to base purposes, to keep in the favor of those to whom they are indebted 
for their official position." And May 30, 1859, "If Langston and Bushnell are 
released, they will be immediately re-arrested by the Marshal of this District, 
who has gone to Columbus for that purpose. This will bring on the long-dreaded 
collision of authority, between the State and General Government, and force 
must meet force, and might make right." 



190 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

the Ohio Supreme Court would have discharged the 
prisoners, except for the fact that the United States 
Supreme Court had decided in the case of Prigg v. 
Pennsylvania, that the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 
was constitutional, and had, only two months before, 
reversed the Supreme Court of Wisconsin in the 
Booth case, holding that no State Court could take 
a prisoner from the custody of a Marshal, or Sheriff, 
holding him by orders of a Federal Court, acting 
under authority of both laws, relating to fugitives 
from labor. 

The decision of the Ohio Supreme Court was 
announced on May 30, 1859. Three Judges, Swan, 
Scott and Peck, held that the Fugitive Slave Law, 
or such portion thereof as the prisoners were charged 
with violating, was constitutional and that the 
prisoners must be remanded to the custody of the 
United States Marshal. Judge Swan delivered the 
opinion of the Court, but Judge Peck, wrote a separate 
opinion. Judges Brinkerhoff and Sutliff dissented 
and wrote opinions, the first distinguished by its 
brevity, and the last by a very elaborate analysis 
of the Constitution and its spirit based upon con- 
temporary evidence and early decisions of the Courts. 
The statement of the case, arguments of Counsel, 
and opinions of the Court occupy 249 pages of 
Volume 9 of the Ohio State Reports. The decision 
was naturally very disappointing to the majority 
of the people on the Western Reserve, but they 
accepted it as final, and immediately turned their 
attention to securing through political action what 
the Courts had denied them. 2 4 7 



2 «' The Cleveland Leader said. May 31, 1859, "It is the end of the legal contro- 
versy at this time. The free people can only take an appeal through the ballot 
boxes, State and National. This they will do. The struggle between Freedom and 
Slavery, Liberty and Despotism, is but begun." [Quoted with approval in the 
Ashtabula Sentinel, June 2, 1859.] The Cleveland Herald said, "On a question 
bristling, as this does, with so many difficulties, all should obey the scripture well 
and be 'slow to speak.' It is too grave a question to be disposed of on street 
corners and it is one in which, in forming an opinion upon, impulse should have 
no agency. Res adjudicata — the bulwark behind which the profession is so prone 



Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 191 

The Ohio State Journal, May 31, 1859, expressed 
the almost universal feeling of Republicans, thus: — 
"Whatever may be the conflicting popular opinions 
upon the decision rendered by a majority of the 
Court, the people of Ohio will doubtless regard it 
as the deliberate judgment of the highest tribunal 
of the State and will respect it accordingly." Wade, 
Giddings, Langston, and some of the Western Re- 
serve editors could not suppress their ill feeling. 2 4 8 
The Cleveland Plain Dealer took delight in quoting 
the fiery language of these men before the decision 
was announced and calling on them to do as they 






to skulk — has, evidently, controlled the majority of the Judges. As an original 
question it has not been met by the majority, for Judge Brinkerhoff, in his opinion, 
says, 'A majority of my brethren, as I understand them, admit that, if this were 
a new question they would be with me, and they yield the strong leanings of their 
own minds to the force of the rule of res adjudicatal' * * * Why should our 
Supreme Court yield the 'strong leanings of their own minds' to any other tribu- 
nal? * * * The decision of the Federal Supreme Court should not control a 
State Supreme Court, for each Court is of the highest dignity. The melancholy 
truth is the majority did not do their own thinking." And on June i, 1859, 
"How can the tyranny of prior decisions be more glaringly shown than by point- 
ing to such able and honest lawyers as Judges Swan and Peck, who bow in obedi- 
ence to prior decisions which, were the questions original ones, would not receive 
their assent?" and quote with approval from the opinion of Judge Brinkerhoff, 
" 'So surely as the matured conviction of the mass of intelligent mind of this country 
must ultimately control the operations of the government in all its departments, 
so surely is this question not settled. When it is settled right, then it will be 
settled, and not till then.' " The Norwalk Reflector said, June 7, 1859, "Over the 
result the 'nigger driving democracy' will, of course, exult as they would at the 
enforcement of any other law that has for its object the crushing out of freedom. 
* * * Though the fugitive slave law and the tools who execute it in the most 
oppressive manner, are odious in the extreme, to every man possessing a single 
spark of the genuine love of liberty in him, yet the power that makes and moves 
them must be met and punished; and it will be done, if the Republicans prove 
true to the cause they have espoused. Thank heaven the ballot-box is left us. 
Let us stand firm and united then, and in i860 we shall conquer the combined 
forces of tories and dough faces." 

2 48 The Summit County Beacon said, June — , 1859, "A cowardly and miser- 
able sham conservative, speaking through the mouth of Joseph R. Swan, the voice 
of THREE base, timid, judges has remanded Bushnell and Langston to their illegal 
prisonment. Be silent who will, we choose to utter the honest indignation of one 
freeman in the State. The people of Ohio will REMAND those three Judges to 
their original and deserved obscurity, made more disreputable because of the 
opportunities thrown away to achieve a decent judicial fame." [Quoted in Cleve- 
land Plain Dealer, June 3, 1859.] The Painesville Telegraph said, June 2, 1859, 
"We do not censure the judgment of these three men who remanded Bushnell 
and Langston to prison if it is their conscientious opinion. But God help them in 
their blindness." 



192 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentimeft 

had threatened; 24 9 but, again, the Ohio State Journal 
gave expression to the quiet determination of the 
masses. 2 5 ° 

The Republican State Convention was held 
at Columbus, June 2, 1859, just four days after 
the decision of the Supreme Court in the habeas 
corpus case. The attendance was larger than 
at any previous convention. All felt the importance 
of nominating a strong ticket and building a strong 
platform. William Dennison was nominated for 
Governor. He was a most affable man with a charm- 
ing manner and a fine presence and he had had the 
double training of a successful lawyer, and a highly 
successful business man. Probably no better choice 



2<» The Cleveland Palin Dealer said, June 3, 1859, "The last Ashtabula Sentinel 
contains the proceedings of a great banner presentation by the ladies (God bless 
them) of Ashtabula, to a committee of the 'Sons of Liberty' * * * Among 
many other revolutionary declarations made by Mr. Wade, we select the following: 

'Ladies: I stand before you to-night, to say that those men of Oberlin and 
Wellington acted just as I should have acted, and will act whenever occasion 
presents itself. And more — I will seek opportunities to violate the Fugitive Slave 
Act. * * * 

'Ladies and Fellow Citizens: The hour of trial has come. Twenty of our neigh- 
bors are in custody, for helping 'John' on to Canada. Now shall we tamely submit 
in the face of all our boasting and threats? In the name of God let us be true to our 
words. Let us be true to our professions and principles. IF THE SUPREME 
COURT OF OHIO DOES NOT GRANT THE HABEAS CORPUS. THE 
PEOPLE OF THE WESTERN RESERVE MUST GRANT IT— sword in hand 
if need be.' 

'The Court has refused to release these prisoners and now the Ashtabulians 
have got to make good their word." And, on June 2, 1859, quoted from Giddings' 
letter to Ralph Plumb, dated May 6, 1849, " 'In disregarding this law the prisoners 
did right. Their error consisted in SPARING THE LIVES OF THE SLAVE 
CATCHERS. THOSE PIRATES SHOULD HAVE BEEN DELIVERED 
OVER TO THE COLORED MEN AND CONSIGNED THE DOOM OF 
PIRATES. WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN SPEEDILY EXECUTED.' " 
And, on May 31, 1859, "A dispatch from Painesville last evening, says, 'The bells 
of this city are now tolling on account of the decision of the Supreme Court today 
at Columbus.' So the end is not yet. 'Revolutions' says the Leader 'never go 
backwards.' Well, then, let the Revolution go on. * * * There is a Revolu- 
tion going on in Italy, another threatened in Hungary * * * There is also a 
Revolution going on in Mexico, another in Central America, and one prayed for 
in Cuba. It is a pity that Black Republicans and Red Republicans in this freest 
of all countries cannot revolt if they choose to do so." 

J '« The Journal said, June 14, 1859, "The idea that the Republicans of Ohio 
have sought or intend to seek redress for the palpable wrongs that have grown up 
under a perversion of law, based upon a misconstruction of the Constitution, in 
any other way than through the operation of constitutional remedies is absurd. 
The mass meeting at Cleveland about which so great ado has been made, proposed 
no other plan of action." 



Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 193 

could have been made at this time. William Y. 
Gholson, of Cincinnati, was nominated for Supreme 
Court Judge. He was a Mississippian by birth, 
had inherited slaves, manumitted them and moved 
to Ohio, where he had made a fine record as a lawyer 
and as one of the trio of able Judges who first con- 
stituted the Superior Court of Cincinnati and gave 
it a high reputation, extending far beyond the bounds 
of city and State. The nomination of Judge Swan, 
who four days before had delivered the opinion of 
the Court in the habeas corpus cases, was urged by 
his friends contrary to his own judgment. He was 
complimented by a large vote; but, as he himself 
foresaw, his nomination was rendered impossible 
by his decision, which ran counter to the wishes 
and hopes of the majority of his party. His reputa- 
tion as lawyer and jurist was of the highest, his 
character unblemished, and he was personally a 
lovable man. Under ordinary conditions, his re- 
nomination would have been a matter of course; 
but the majority of the delegates present felt that 
to renominate him then, was equivalent to endorsing 
his views on the Fugitive Slave Law, which the 
Republican party had determined to make the 
principal point of attack. 2bl In the light of subse- 



26i The vote stood Gholson 217, Swan. 140 and blank 8. The Ashtabula 
Sentinel said. "Brinkerhoff and Sutliff had ably and nobly maintained the con- 
stitutional rights of the people, and the re-nomination of Judge Swan would have 
been a reproof to those two Judges. * * * Had they submitted to the de- 
cision, and re-nominated Swan, the party in Ohio would have disbanded and the 
old Guard who have for twenty-five years maintained the doctrines of Liberty 
amid defeat and persecution, would at once have reorganized upon their present 
doctrines." And again, July 21, 1859, "And if it will be of any satisfaction to the 
Statesman, we will assure it that whether the refusal to discharge Bushnell and 
Langston worked the defeat of Judge Swan before the Convention or not, it made 
his defeat certain before the people. Enough of Delegates were _ very free 
to say that he could not be elected." * * * "This will be the case with all who 
concur with him." The Oberlin Evangelist said, June 8, 1859, "A supreme judge 
is to be elected next fall in the place of Judge Swan when the people will be called 
upon to sustain or reverse this decision." The Portage County Democrat said, 
June 1, 1859, "With the people, under God, is the residuum of power, — with them 
is the remedy — that remedy is the ballot box — let that remedy be faithfully ap- 
plied while a reasonable hope is left in that direction. Let Judges Brinkerhoff 
and Sutliff have an associate worthy of them." See also Western Reserve Chronicle, 
June 22, 1859. 



194 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

quent events, it may well be said that Judge Swan 
did more by his unpopular decision, for his party, 
for his State and for the Union, than any other man 
in the year 1859. 

The Cleveland and Cincinnati papers and Ohio 
State Journal ignored the real cause of Judge Swan's 
defeat, and rather attributed it to geographical 
considerations and dwelt on the undoubted merits 
of Judge Gholson. 2 5 2 

Among the resolutions adopted were the fol- 
lowing : — 

"2. That the people of Ohio demand a reorganization of 
the Judicial Circuits of the United States, and that they be 
so constituted as to give every section of the Confederacy 
its just and equal voice in the Supreme Court of the United 
States; that provision be made for reviewing the decisions 
of the District and Circuit Courts of the United States, by 
appeal or writ of error and for securing fair and impartial 
juries in prosecutions for alleged violations of the laws of the 
United States. 

"3. That, proclaiming our determination rigidly to respect 
the constitutional obligations imposed upon the States by the 
Federal compact, we maintain the Union of the States, the 
rights of the States, and the liberties of the people; and in 
order to attain these important ends, we demand the repeal 
of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, as subversive of both the 
rights of the States and the liberties of the people, and as 
contrary to the plainest duties of humanity and justice, and 
as abhorrent to the moral sense of the civilized world. 

"6. That we regard all suggestions and propositions of 
every kind, by whomsoever made, for a revival of the African 
slave trade, as shocking to the moral sentiments of the en- 
lightened portion of mankind; and that any action on the 
part of the government or people conniving at, or legalizing 
that horrid and inhuman traffic, would justly subject the 
government and citizens of the United States to the reproach 
and execration of all civilized and christian people through- 
out the world." 



2 « J The Cleveland Herald said, June 3, 1859, "The nomination of Judge Gholson 
is one of the best that could be made. The location is right; Hamilton County, 
by its size and the amount of law business, is entitled to one of the five Judges. 
* * * His nomination will give enthusiasm and satisfaction in the Southwest 
part of the State, while, under all the late excitements on the Reserve his nomi- 
nation will ensure him the full Republican vote of the North." 



Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 195 

The Democratic party nominated for Governor, 
Rufus P. Ranney, the strongest candidate they could 
have named, an able lawyer and debater, and ex- 
Judge of the Supreme Court, and all the more accept- 
able with the masses because he had not of late 
years been at all prominent in politics. 2 5 3 The 
rest of the ticket was comparatively weak, and a 
blunder was made, when Charles N. Allen, of Cadiz, 
was nominated for School Commissioner, "an office 
of all others, requiring mental cultivation, high 
literary acquirements and talent as an educator. 
Mr. Allen was a good party man and served well 
as Deputy U. S. Marshal and juror in a nigger 
case." 2 5 4 He was the man who served on the Bush- 
nell jury while at the same time an officer of the 
United States Court. 

The Democrats tried to make capital out of 
the refusal of the Republicans to renominate Judge 
Swan, but the issue was so clearly drawn between 
the Republican demand that the Fugitive Slave Law 
should be repealed and the Democratic demand 
that it should be obeyed, that this side issue cut 
no figure. 2 5 5 

The Democratic platform opposed the revival 
of the African slave trade, but ignored the fact 



2 53 The Western Reserve Chronicle said, June 8, 1859, "Our opinion of Judge 
Ranney is that he possesses more talent than any man belonging to the Demo- 
cratic party in this State, and that his personal popularity is great and deservedly 
so. In fact we know of no man belonging to the fugitive law party, whom we should 
prefer to see in the Gubernatorial Chair." 

254 Cleveland Herald, May 27, 1859; Western Reserve Chronicle, June 8, 1859. 
26 5 The Ohio State Journal said, June 7. 1859, "For the Columbus Democracy 

to get up indignation meetings because Judge Swan was not nominated by a 
Republican convention, when every one of them would have used their worst 
efforts to defeat him if he had been, and when they have a candidate of their own 
whom they will persist in running against Judge Swan, in any shape, would be 
a very cheap style of indignation. * * * But it is said by a few shallow Demo- 
crats, who would scalp Judge Swan much sooner than they would vote for him, that 
the independence of the judiciary is assailed because he was not renominated by 
the convention in order to sustain his decision on the constitutionality of the 
fugitive slave law. This truly would be a most singular way of preserving the 
impartiality of the Judiciary." And on June 8, 1859, "We deny the justice of any 
claim that a judge should be renominated, or not renominated, because of a par- 
ticular decision. 






196 Growth of Anti-Slavery Sentiment 

that it was already open and that offenders were 
not being punished. 2 5 6 The 3d Resolution read 
as follows: — 

"Resolved, That the rendition of fugitive slaves, upon 
demand of the persons entitled to their services or labor, is a 
duty imposed on every State of the Union by the terms of 
the Federal compact; that laws passed by Congress to secure 
such rendition in 1793 and 1850, ought to be promptly and 
faithfully executed; and that the leaders of the self-styled 
Republican party, in Ohio, by a persistent disregard of the 
Constitution of the United States in this particular, have 
shown themselves unworthy of the confidence of well dis- 
posed, patriotic and peaceable citizens." 

The 10th, as follows:— 

"Resolved, That we are opposed to conferring upon negroes, 
mulattoes, or other persons of visible admixture of African 
blood the right of suffrage, or any other political right, de- 
siring that the laws of Ohio be made, and her destinies con- 
trolled, by white men exclusively, and for the paramount 
interests of the white race." 

Thus the issue was squarely presented, and the 
campaign hinged on the question, shall the Fugitive 
Slave Law be enforced, or repealed. One of the 
telling arguments in favor of repeal was the fact 
that fourteen of Ohio's most reputable citizens 
were still languishing in a Cleveland jail for yield- 
ing to a charitable impulse to rescue a negro from 
the hands of rough men whom they believed to be 
kidnappers. 



: s» Painesville Telegraph, June 2, 1859. 



Prosecution of Rescuers Abandoned 197 

THE CAPTORS OF JOHN PRICE INDICTED 
FOR KIDNAPPING 

PROSECUTION OF OBERLIN-WELLINGTON 
RESCUERS ABANDONED 

But legal remedies had not all been exhausted. 
Judge Carpenter of the Lorain County Common 
Pleas Court, had called the attention of his Grand 
Jury to the Ohio Statute to prevent kidnapping. 2 5 7 
He said, inter al. — 

"The misdemeanor here defined, is the claiming of any 
black or mulatto, within Ohio, whether free or not free, to 
be a fugitive from service, or labor, and the getting, or at- 
tempting to get him out of Ohio before such claim can be 
legally proved, with intent to enforce the claim. 

"The Constitution of Ohio inhibits slavery, and regards 
all persons as free except criminals. * * * Who then is 
presumed to be free? Everybody! Every man, woman and 
child, in Ohio, of whatever birth, descent, parentage, com- 
plexion, or comformation, is presumed to be free. * * * 
In this position * * * I am upheld by the Constitution of 
this State as well as by that of the United States. Our Bill 
of Rights begins' Sec. 1. All men are by nature free and in- 
dependent.' * * * Does any caviller pretend that the 
words, 'all men' * * * were meant to exclude blacks 
and mulattoes?" 

He then went on to show that, whenever the 
Constitution was intended to exclude blacks or 
mulattoes, e. g., from the privilege of voting, or the 
duty of serving in the militia, the word, "white" 
was used before the words, "male citizens." The 
necessary inference was that, when such a qualifying 
word was left out, all persons were included. He 
then proceeded to show that, admitting for the sake 
of argument that the Fugitive Slave Law was Con- 
stitutional, it was a penal statute and must be strictly 
construed; that any person claiming its protection, 
while engaged in seizing and carrying off any resident 



Act of April 17, 1857, Ohio Laws. LIV., 221-; 



198 Prosecution of Rescuers Abandoned 

of Ohio, must comply strictly with its terms and 
any defect in the authority under which he claimed 
to act, would deprive him of the benefit of the law 
and justify interference on the part of any one sus- 
pecting that he was acting illegally. 2 5 8 

On February 15th, the Grand Jury, thus charged, 
returned true bills against Rufus P. Mitchell, Ander- 
son Jennings, Jacob K. Lowe, and Samuel Davis, 
for kidnapping and attempting to carry out of the 
State, in unlawful manner, a negro boy named John 
Price. 2 5 9 A warrant was issued to the Sheriff of 
Lorain County on the same day and, acting under it, 
he arrested Jacob K. Lowe, at Grafton, April 4, 
1859, and the others, at Cleveland, May 11, 1859. 2 6 ° 
A mistake having been made in the first name of 
Mitchell, a new indictment was found against the 
four, May 17, 1859, Mitchell being correctly named, 
in this, Richard P., and on the same date all were 
rearrested and released on giving a bail bond in the 
sum of $3,200, with O. S. Wadsworth, of Wellington, 
Joseph L. Whiton, of Amherst, and Malachi Warren, 
of Oberlin, as sureties. 2 6 x On May 19th, the Judge 
set the cases for trial on July 6th, next. United 
States Attorney General Black instructed District 
Attorney Belden to defend these men indicted for 
kidnapping, and he appeared for them on May 19th, 
an act which called forth more indignant protests. 2 6 2 



»* 8 This charge was published in the Medina Gazette, July — , 1859, and copied 
from that paper in the Cleveland Leader, July 7, 1859. 

»»» Cleveland Leader, and Herald, Feb. 24, 1859; Painesville Telegraph, March 
3, 1859; Oberlin Evangelist, March 16, 1859; Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 16, 1859. 

s»° Cleveland Leader, April 21, 22 and 28; May 13, 14 and 17, 1859; Cleveland 
Herald, April 21 and 25; May 5, 12, and 14, 1859. Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 21, 
1859; Independent Democrat, April 6, and May 18, 1859; Lorain County Eagle, 
May 18 and 25. 1859; Portage County Democrat, April 27, 1859; Western Reserve 
Chronicle, April 27, 1859. 

> 8 » Cleveland Leader, May 18, 20 and 21, 1859; Cleveland Herald, May 18 and 19, 
1859; Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 20, 1859; Painesville Telegraph, May 19, 1859; 
Jefersonian Democrat, May 27, 1859; Lorain County Eagle, May 25, 1859. 

*«* The Cleveland Herald said, May 16, 1859. "Look at the thing! Jennings 
comes from Kentucky on a private matter for his employer — a most disgraceful 
private matter — and gets into difficulty. Why should the United States so prompt- 



Prosecution of Rescuers Abandoned 199 

Were the funds and power of the United States to 
be employed in defending all men indicted for violat- 
ing the laws of Ohio? If not, why were man-stealers 
exalted above all other persons accused of crime? 

The defendants were not willing to trust en- 
tirely to District Attorney Belden for their defense 
and engaged R. H. Stanton of Kentucky. D. K. 
Cartter was engaged to assist the Prosecuting Attor- 
ney of Lorain County, W. W. Boynton, afterwards 
Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and not to be 
confused with Lewis D. Boynton. It was morally 
certain that, on the same evidence which was given 
at Cleveland, a Lorain county Judge and jury would 
convict all four defendants of kidnapping. The 
invalidity of both, the warrant given to Lowe and 
the Power of Attorney given to Jennings, and the 
lack of resemblance between Bacon's slave John, 
as described in the latter, and John Price of Oberlin, 
would have been argued with telling effect before 
a Court and jury, free from bias in favor of the 
Administration and the Fugitive Slave Law, and the 
defendants were unwilling to risk a trial with a possi- 
ble sentence of from three to eight years at hard 
labor in the Ohio Penitentiary staring them in the 
face. 2 6 3 

Their Kentucky attorney seeing that his clients 
had nothing to gain by going to trial, or by further 
prosecution of the Rescuers, negotiated with Mr. 
Cartter a settlement of all litigation, by the terms 
of which, the United States was to enter nolle prosequi 

ly rush to his rescue, tendering to him the use of government lawyers and govern- 
ment money in his defence? Is this the parental care that the Government exer- 
cises over all private citizens who, in the pursuit of private objects, overstep the 
bounds of criminal law and find themselves lodged in jail? Or is * * * the 
business of slave-catching * * * of such a character as to entitle its followers. 
above all other men, to the care and protection of our government?" See also 
Cleveland Plain Dealer, May II, 1859; Cleveland Leader, May 20, 1859; Ashtabula 
Sentinel, May 19, 1859; Ohio State Journal, May 19, 1859; Ashtabula Telegraph, 
May 14 and 21, 1859; Norwalk Reflector, May 24, 1859; and Independent Democrat, 
May 25 and July 20, 1859. 

263 Cleveland Leader, July 6, 1859; Cleveland Herald, July 5 and 6, 1859; Ohio 
State Journal, July 8, 1859; Independent Democrat, July 13, 1859. 



200 Prosecution of Rescuers Abandoned 

in all the remaining cases against the Rescuers 
and the Prosecuting Attorney of Lorain County 
was to do the same in the kidnapping cases. Belden, 
at first, refused to agree. He had sworn to "put 
Oberlin through" and was intending to do so, cost 
what it might. But on an intimation from Stanton 
that if he persisted, his Kentucky witnesses would 
probably be non est inventus, when the next case 
was called in Cleveland, he yielded, on condition 
that a statement and correspondence should be 
framed up showing that he had nothing to do with 
the negotiations and only consented at the earnest 
solicitation of his witnesses. On July 5th, 1859, 
the papers were all drawn up and signed. The 
District Attorney nollied the remaining cases against 
the Rescuers and the Kidnapping cases were dis- 
missed. So ended what at the beginning had been 
trumpeted in the Plain Dealer as "THE FIRST 
SIEGE OF OBERLIN." 2 6 4 

The Democratic papers made loud moan over 
what they called "compounding of felony," a betrayal 
of his trust on the part of Belden, a failure of duty, 
etc.; but consoled themselves with the thought 
that the Rescuers had been punished as much by 
their eighty-five days imprisonment in the Cleve- 
land jail as if they had been duly convicted and 
sentenced. 2 6 5 



*«♦ Cleveland Herald, and Plain Dealer, July 6, 7 and 8, 1859; Cleveland Leader, 
July 7 and 11, 1859; Ohio State Journal, July 7, 8 and 9, 1859; Independent Democrat, 
July 6 and 13, 1859; Portage Sentinel, July 7, 1859; Ashtabula Telegraph, July 9. 1859; 
Springfield (Mass.) Republican, July — , 1859; Portage County Democrat, July 
13, 1859; Painesville Telegraph, July 14, 1859; Western Reserve Chronicle, July 
13, 1859; Oberlin Evangelist, July 20, 1859. 

» « » The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, July 6, 1859, "So the Government has been 
beaten at last, with law. Justice, and facts all on its side, and Oberlin, with its re- 
bellious Higher Law creed is triumphant. The precedent is a bad one." The 
Portage Sentinel (Dem.) said July 7, 1859, "We regret to learn, as we do from the 
Cieveland papers of last night, that U. S. Attorney Belden has nollied the indict- 
ments against the Oberlin Rescuers now in jail, on condition that the Oberlinites 
will nollie the indictments against the Kentucky witnesses who were arrested on a 
charge of kidnapping. This arrangement, which was made at the solicitation of 
the witnesses, is in very bad taste and unbecoming a Federal Officer." The Mt. 
Vernon Banner (Dem.) said, July — , 1859, "This arrangement, or compromise, 
we regard as nothing better than a disgraceful compounding of felony." [Quoted 



Prosecution of Rescuers Abandoned 201 

The Republican papers exulted in the final 
triumph of the Rescuers, condemned anew the 
whole proceedings, and predicted that never again 
would there be an attempt to enforce this odious 
and inhuman law. 2 6 6 Before leaving the jail, after 



in Independent Democrat, July 20, 1859.] The Lorain County Eagle (Dem.) said, 
July 13, 1859, "The Republicans are making some very silly attempts to con- 
vince somebody that the Oberlinites have achieved a great triumph, and that the 
Government has 'backed down,' or something. * * * The law was enforced, 
Bushnell and Langston were tried, convicted and imprisoned. Thus far the 
triumph seemed to be altogether with the Government. * * * The Gov- 
ernment has succeeded in punishing them all in the same degree as far as imprison- 
ment is concerned and it is safe to conclude that such a miserable set of hair- 
brained fanatics have nothing to pay fines with * * * Then where is the back- 
ing down?" 

266 The Cleveland Herald said, July 6, 1859, "All this shows the virtue of self 
respect. The State of Ohio had rights and Lorain county was determined that 
these rights should be respected. This has put an end to nigger-ctaching in 
Northern Ohio. * * * It is exceedingly fortunate, we think, for all concerned, 
that the Kentucky men brought on their own counsel who had no axe to grind 
save the cause of his clients and who was unseduced by Federal pap, or unawed 
by Federal frowns." The Cleveland Leader said, July 7, 1859, "Never were a set 
of men worse used than have been Jennings, Bacon and Mitchell, the Kentucky 
slave owner and slave-catchers who tried to seize a negro in Oberlin, by the Govern- 
ment officials who sought to make a good thing out of it for themselves and for 
Democracy. The prosecutions were commenced without the knowledge or con- 
sent.of those who claimed to have a running interest in 'John,' and they have been 
obliged to leave their homes repeatedly at the call of these officials, for the purpose 
of working the conviction of the objects of their political hatred and unrelenting 
prosecution. * * * these same valorous officials, who had been to Washing- 
ton for orders and had pledged themselves to carry them out, are seen the day 
before the Court opens at Elyria, making the proposition to 'cry quits;' — to take 
back all their threats, and enter nollies against some twenty Lorain citizens, if by 
that means they could get their Kentucky friends out of the scrape and them- 
selves too." The Springfield (Mass.) Republican said, July 7, 1859, "But what 
becomes of the sacredness of the fugitive slave law and the safety of the Union, 
in the presence of such a humiliating surrender of the lower law as this? * * * 
So ends the famous rescue cases and it may be safely set down as a fixed fact that 
they are the last of the sort in Ohio. The persecution of Christian men for showing 
kindness to runaway negroes is a losing operation socially and politically." 
[Quoted in Ashtabula Telegraph, July 9, 1859.] The Portage County Democrat 
said, July 13, 1859, "These suits were instituted and prosecuted from the begin- 
ning with a spirit that would not damage the reputation of the Evil one for Devil- 
ishness — and that they are abandoned now says plainly and beyond the point of 
controversy, that the aim designed to be accomplished has been defeated. The 
Democratic party have sunk capital instead of making it, the Federal officers 
have covered themselves with infamy and disgrace, instead of being able to enforce 
the infamous enactment they sought to do, on the Western Reserve. Instead of 
getting money out of the persecuted, the United States foots the bills." The 
Painesville Telegraph said, July 28, 1859, "The trial of the Oberlin Rescuers has 
done more than anything that has ever before transpired in this part of Ohio to 
inform the people upon the subject of State Rights and Federal encroachments; 
and the men who have suffered in purse and person, to disseminate that informa- 
tion should be sustained by us." 



202 Prosecution of Rescuers Abandoned 

their discharge the Rescuers passed Resolutions 
thanking the Sheriff of Cuyahoga county, and 
Jailer Smith and his family for the kindness which 
had mitigated their troubles, and to the Attorneys 
who had nobly defended their cause and to the friends, 
far and near who by prayer and act had remembered 
them, and to the Press "which has given us constant 
and valuable aid." They further "Resolved, 

"That after all the pains and penalties inflicted upon us by 
Government officials in the attempt to enforce the fugitive 
Slave Act, we feel it to be our duty to say that our hatred 
and opposition to that unjust and unconstitutional law are 
more intense than ever before. 

"No fine or imprisonment however enforced, by whatever 
Court, can induce us to yield it obedience. We will here- 
after, as we have heretofore, help the panting fugitive to 
escape from those who would enslave him, whatever may be 
the authority under which they may act." 

They then presented the wives of the Attorneys, 
the Sheriff and the Jailor, with some beautiful 
pieces of silver and Mr. Plumb, speaking for the 
prisoners, "requested them to place the gifts before 
their husbands, at meals, three times a day while 
they lived, that they might at such times, when 
surrounded by their families and those dear to them, 
when noble and generous feelings were sure to come, 
look upon the mementoes and remember the exciting 
scenes through which they had just passed." 

The prisoners were not allowed to depart un- 
noticed and unattended. In the afternoon, about 
5 o'clock, a hundred guns were fired, and several 
hundred citizens of Cleveland gathered at the jail 
to escort the Rescuers to the depot. At half past 
five, the whole company, headed by Hecker's Band, 
inarched two and two, to the depot through Superior 
and Water Streets. As the train started, the Band 
played that appropriate air, "Home, Sweet Home." 2 6 7 

At Oberlin the entire town was out to greet 



i Cleveland Leader, July 7, 1859. 



Prosecution of Rescuers Abandoned 203 

them; Professor Monroe welcomed them in an appro- 
priate speech and then, headed by the Oberlin 
Band, the Fire Company and the Hook & Ladder 
Company in uniform, all marched to the First Church 
where the return of the martyrs was celebrated with 
prayers and thanksgiving, music by the choir of 
150 voices and speeches by the venerable Father 
Keep on behalf of the home folks, and by Ralph 
Plumb, Professor Peck and James M. Fitch on 
behalf of the Rescuers. Then others from Cleveland, 
Elyria and Wellington spoke and the vast audience 
did not adjourn until midnight. 2 6 8 

The last and crowning ovation to the Rescuers 
came off on Monday, July 11th, when Bushnell, 
having completed his term, was released from 
imprisonment. As the hour approached for his 
departure an immense crowd gathered in and about 
the jail to see him off. A procession was formed, 
headed by a guard of colored men, followed by 
Hecker's Band and a long line of friends on foot, 
a carriage in which Bushnell and his baggage were 
placed and then a long line of carriages. The Cleve- 
land Artillery Company preceded him to Oberlin 
and saluted him on arrival with a hundred guns. 
Another procession, more music, more speeches, 
prayers and thanksgiving. The procession was en- 
livened by the Hecker Band, of Cleveland, the 
Wellington Band, the Elyria Band and the Oberlin 
Band, the Cleveland Artillery Company, the Oberlin 
Fire Company, and the Hook and Ladder Company, 
all in uniform. The First Church was again filled 
with an enthusiastic audience, speeches were made 
by Prof. Monroe, Ralph Plumb, Joshua R. Gid- 
dings, D. K. Cartter, A. G. Riddle and R. P. Spald- 
ing, of Cleveland, Mr. Goodwin, of Sandusky, Profes- 
sor James Fairchild and John M. Langs ton. 

The feature of these public exercises which 



2«8 Cleveland Leader, July 8, 1859. 



204 Prosecution of Rescuers Abandoned 

most impressed visitors was the noble choir of 
150 voices. Cleveland, Sandusky, Elyria and Wel- 
lington had their Bands. Speakers could be heard 
everywhere during political campaigns, although 
the one who made the most eloquent speech at 
Oberlin had been but seldom heard elsewhere before 
that day. But there was no body of singers any- 
where in the State, with the possible exception of 
Cincinnati, which could compare with the Oberlin 
choir in freshness and volume of sound and in the 
finish and effect of its singing. Music had been a 
specialty in Oberlin from the time when Charles 
G. Finney first went there in 1834 and insisted that 
one of the eight professorships should be devoted 
to Sacred Music. Professor George N. Allen was 
appointed to fill that chair. Reporters from the 
Cleveland Leader, and Herald, had been in Oberlin 
before and knew something of the good things to 
be seen and heard, there; but reporters from the 
Plain Dealer and National Democrat were there 
for the first time, and it is interesting to note how 
greatly they were impressed. The more so, as they 
went to Oberlin strongly prejudiced against the 
place and the people. 2 6 9 



»•• The Cleveland Leader said, July 12, 1859, "Of all the features of the day, 
there was nothing that was of more interest than the singing by the vast and 
well trainted choir. It was without exception the most grand and glorious sing- 
ing — the nearest to our conception of a grand choral harmony of anything we ever 
heard. A lady remarked to us on the homeward passage, that she 'didn't believe 
we would hear better singing in the other world.' We do believe there is no choir 
like that one in the country. No words, no language can express the beauty and 
sublimity of the execution of the Marseilles Hymn, or [Professor Allen's] 'Gathering 
of the Free,' and so will not attempt it. It was beyond all praise." The National 
Democrat (both editors being present), said, July 12, 1859: "They [the Oberlin 
people] said their meeting pleased them — it certainly pleased ns and we felt 
it was good for us to be there. The choir, composed of near two hundred 
persons, sang the Marseilles with thrilling effect — better, far better than 
we ever heard it^or anything else sung." The Cleveland Plain Dealer 
said, July 12, 1859, "John Langston, the colored man and brother of Charles 
who was convicted, was the most eloquent speaker of the occasion. * * * 
But the dessert of the feast, which we purposely reserve to speak of last, was the 
Choir, led by C. H. Churchill, Esq. Talk of Sontag and her supporters, or Picco- 
lomini, or Jenny Lind, or Strakosch, we have heard them all with stoic composure, 
but yesterday we surrendered at discretion on hearing the first piece." [The Gather- 
ing of the Free] by the choir. We pondered long on how we could get the piece 



Prosecution of Rescuers Abandoned 205 

During the campaign, the Republican papers 
and speakers called attention to the record of Judge 
Ranney with reference to the Fugitive Slave Law, 
made in 1850 and 1852, and used his speech at 
Canfield, in October, 1850, and his letter to Judge 
Hoffman in 1852, as campaign documents. 27 ° 
Democratic newspapers and orators, on the other 
hand, pointed to the record of Mr. Dennison when 
as a delegate to a Whig State Convention and as a 
member of the State Legislature, in 1852, he voted, 
with his party, that the Compromise measures, 
including the Fugitive Slave Law, should be ac- 
cepted as a final settlement of the slavery question 
and be rigidly enforced. 2 7 1 

Ranney was rather helped than hurt by this 
reference to his past history. His old associates 



repeated for we were sure they could sing nothing else that way. At length, 
solitary and alone, in the midst of the Choir a beautiful lady arose and struck the 
glorious Marseilles * * * and when she approached the chorus the whole 
galaxy of stars arose and sang together. Well, this sent us kiting to France, so 
that we hardly knew how the song ended. When we got back we distinctly recol- 
lect our resolution that if we ever went to Oberlin again it would be to hear the 
choir." The Cleveland Herald said, July 12, 1859, "The choir then sang the 
Marseilles Hymn. The solo was performed by Miss Church, who has one of the 
richest and most exquisite voices that ever came from human lips. Standing 
alone she sang until the burst of 'To arms, to Arms,' when the whole choir rose as 
one person, giving the Hymn an effect that at the head of the Franco-Sardinian 
army would lead that army over the walls of every city of the 'Historic Square.' 
The music by this choir was a treat seldom enjoyed, but never, when enjoyed, for- 
gotten * * * * and as we saw a number of the devotees of the Federal Ad- 
ministration wrapped in admiration at the music, we mentally exclaimed 'Music 
hath charms to sooth a savage.' " The Independent Democrat said, July 13, 1859, 
"Not less than five thousand citizens of Lorain were on the ground, * * * No 
language is adequate to describe the enthusiasm which prevailed, and the cheers 
which greeted the eloquent orators fairly shook the walls of the old Church." 
The Oberlin Evangelist said, July 1859, "Once more, organ peals and song joined 
the universal joy, and perhaps the celebrated Oberlin Choir never before won such 
laurels as it did while rendering the classic 'Marseilles' and the piece entitled 
'Gathering of the Free.'" The Ashtabula Sentinel said, July 14, 1859, "Mr. 
Giddings, who attended by special invitation, informs us that it was one of the 
occasions to be spoken of but not described." 

2 1 ° Supra, pp. 97 to 99 inch, 102. 

"'I The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, June 30, 1859, "In '52 Mr. Dennison said 
that the Fugitive Slave act was essential to the 'integrity of the Union.' In '59 
he says 'it is abhorrent to the moral sense of the civilized world.' When a man 
ceases to be consistent he ceases to be honest." But see Plain Dealer in 1850. 
Supra pp. 102 to 104 inch and Cleveland Leader, July 6, 1859; Painesville Tele- 
graph, June 9, 1859. 



206 Prosecution of Rescuers Abandoned 

and acquaintances in the Reserve, felt that, regard- 
less of the platform on which he stood, Ranney, 
himself, was at heart opposed to the Fugitive 
Slave Law and its most odious features. Indeed, 
he said, when twitted with his apparent inconsistency, 
that if he were in Congress he would vote to eliminate 
all such features and to so amend the law as to 
provide for a trial of the right of property in an 
alleged fugitive from slavery by a Court and jury 
of the District in which he resided and, to secure 
that, would grant him the constitutional right of 
every free person, the benefit of a writ of habeas 
corpus. Dennison suffered more, because the Re- 
publican party was composed largely of Whigs 
who bolted their party in 1852, because of its en- 
dorsement of the Fugitive Slave law. Such persons 
could not heartily support one who had compromised 
at that time, no matter what his opinions might be 
at the present. Ranney ran ahead of his ticket 
and Dennison ran behind, as a result of this com- 
parison of records. The vote on Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor, which was a true measure of party strength, 
as distinguished from individual, showed a Republi- 
can majority of 14,747. Dennison's majority was 
13,236, but he polled 23,925 more votes than Gov- 
ernor Chase did two years before. 

Nominations for the Legislature were made 
with great care, as the election of a United States 
Senator to succeed George E. Pugh, would devolve 
upon it. The people of the Western Reserve cared 
more about this than they did about the governor- 
ship. They sent to the Senate such old and ex- 
perienced veterans and such sturdy opponents to 
slavery extension as John F. Morse, of Painesville, 
who in connection with Townshend had forced the 
repeal of the Black Laws and the election of Salmon 
P. Chase to the U. S. Senate in 1849, Francis D. 
Parish, of Sandusky, the victim of the Fugitive 



Prosecution of Rescuers Abandoned 207 

Slave Law in the case of Driskell v. Parish, 2 7 2 
and Prof. James Monroe of Oberlin, who had served 
several terms in the House of Representatives. To 
these were added two young men, J. D. Cox, of 
Warren, and James A. Garfield, of Hiram, neither 
of whom were candidates for the position and neither 
of whom had had any legislative experience. 

Jacob D. Cox was but thirty years old when 
elected Senator to represent the Trumbull and 
Mahoning District. He was a graduate of Oberlin 
College; went to Warren as Superintendent of the 
Public Schools in the fall of 1851; and began the 
practice of law in 1853, first as a partner of M. D. 
Leggett, and then as a partner of John Hutchins, 
who was elected to Congress in the fall of 1858. 
Mr. Cox had been active as a stump speaker in 
the Presidential campaign of 1856, and the Con- 
gressional campaign of 1858, and the people of 
Ashtabula and Mahoning counties, as well as Trum- 
bull, had become well acquainted with him as a 
speaker and as a man. Upon his election as Con- 
gressman, Mr. Hutchins retired from active prac- 
tice, and Mr. Cox was engaged in 1859 in establishing 
for himself a leading position at a bar, which em- 
braced such lawyers as Matthew Birchard and 
Milton Sutliff, ex-Judges of the Supreme Court, 
Ezra B. Taylor, Frank Hutchins, and Joel W. Tyler. 
He had, as junior partners, Robert B. Ratliff, 
and William T. Spear, afterwards Common Pleas 
Judge and for twenty-seven years Judge of the 
Supreme Court of Ohio. He had no thought of 
entering politics as a candidate for any office, and 
had declined to allow his name to be mentioned in 
connection with the Senatorship. The Republican 
Senatorial Convention was held at Niles, August 
22, 1859. Six candidates were formally presented 
— Samuel Quinby, Levi Sutliff, George F. Brown, 



J' J Supra, pp. no to 112 incl. 



208 Prosecution of Rescuers Abandoned 

Charles W. Smith, Jesse Baldwin and Cyrus Bos- 
worth, but, on the first ballot, seven delegates 
from Mahoning County voted for J. D. Cox, and 
on the third, he was nominated by a majority of 19 
over all. Niles is only about five miles from War- 
ren, and Mr. Spear, who was attending the Conven- 
tion, drove rapidly to Mr. Cox's house in Warren 
and said, "Mr. Cox, you are wanted at Niles, right 
away," and they were well on their way there, 
before Mr. Cox knew why he was wanted. 2 7 3 

James A. Garfield was a graduate of Williams 
College (class of 1856) and returning to Hiram was 
elected teacher of Ancient Languages in, and two 
years later, President of, the Western Reserve 
Eclectic Institute, at that place. He, too, had no 
thought of entering public life and was not a can- 
didate for any office. 

Lyman W. Hall, editor of the Portage County 
Democrat, received the support of most of the 
Portage County men, but could not be nominated 
without help from Summit County which had 
candidates of its own. After several ballots with- 
out result, Mr. Hall asked his supporters to throw 



2 " The Western Reserve Chronicle, Aug. 24, 1859, reported the proceedings of 
the convention with the details of the balloting and the editor said: "The nomi- 
nation of J. D. Cox, Esq., as the Republican candidate for State Senator has taken 
both the people and nominee somewhat by surprise. He has reason to feel highly 
nattered by this testimonial of the estimate in which he is held by the people of 
this District, for it was the spontaneous act of the delegates, themselves, without 
any solicitation whatever on his part, or that of his friends. He had refused 
some weeks since, to permit his name to be used by the press in connection with the 
office, on account of his private business, (which must suffer by his nomination) 
and the matter was supposed to be at an end. * * * Mr. Cox is comparatively 
a young man, but he has well and fairly earned a popularity second to that of no 
man in this District. * * * A finished scholar, an eloquent orator, well versed 
in the political history of the country, a ready debater, with wit as keen and 
trenchant as a Toledo blade; of indefatigable industry, quick and accurate in the 
transaction of business, and last but not least, a true Republican — ever ready to 
labor for the cause, he cannot fail to add strength to the ticket. The Cleveland 
Herald said, August 25, 1859, "The Senatorial Convention to nominate a Repub- 
lican candidate for Senator to represent the District composed of Trumbull and Ma- 
honing counties assembled at Niles on the 22d inst., and nominated J. Dolson Cox, 
of Warren. Mr. Cox is a young man and was a hearty and sincere member of the 
Old Whig Party. He is very popular wherever known, and will be elected by a large 
majority." See also Cleveland Leader, August 24, 1859. 



Prosecution of Rescuers Abandoned 209 

their vote to a dark horse, James A. Garfield, who 
had attracted his attention as a public speaker and 
won his favor as a man. While Mr. Garfield had 
not been prominent in politics he had actively 
canvassed Portage and the adjoining counties of 
Trumbull, Summit, Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake, 
in the interests of his "Institute," had preached 
in most of the Disciple Churches in those counties, 
had addressed Teachers' Institutes and other gather- 
ings on various subjects, and had thus become com- 
paratively well known. He had then, as later in 
life, the gift of presenting any subject he chose to 
discuss in a most interesting way, riveting the 
attention of an audience and leaving a lasting im- 
pression. 2 7 4 The delegates gladly welcomed the 
suggested way of ending the dead-lock and Garfield 
was started on his eventful career. These two 
young men had become firm friends before either 
was nominated for the Senate and they roomed 
together during the sessions of the Legislature. 

To the lower House the Reserve sent such 
veterans as Peter Hitchcock and Richard C. Par- 
sons, the latter being elected Speaker. 

The Republicans secured a majority of 15 in 
the Senate and of 12 in the House of Representatives, 
and elected Salmon P. Chase as United States 
Senator, to succeed George E. Pugh as the associate 
of Ben Wade. This may be considered as the direct 
result of the Democratic effort to enforce the Fugitive 
Slave Law in Ohio, and the revelation of all its 

»»« The author heard Mr. Garfield preach at the Church of the Disciples, 
Warren, O., in the summer of 1858, taking for his text the first verse of the first 
chapter of St. John. Although he remembers nothing of any sermon he heard 
before this, he has retained to the present day, a vivid impression of Mr. Gar- 
field's manner of speaking and line of argument. The Cleveland Herald said, Aug. 
25, 1859, "The Republicans of the Ohio Senatorial District, comprising Portage 
and Summit Counties, have nominated Prof. J. A. Garfield, President of the 
Western Reserve Eclectic Institute at Hiram, as a candidate for Senator. No 
better nomination could have been made. Mr. Garfield is a live man, and his 
intelligence and progressive character will secure him a prominent position in the 
Senate." 



210 Prosecution of Rescuers Abandoned 

enormities, through six months of persistent nagging 
of the Oberlin-Wellington Rescuers. Cincinnati was, 
as usual, apprehensive of losing its Kentucky and 
Southern trade and Hamilton County sent a solid 
Democratic delegation to the Legislature. Southern 
Ohio, generally, was lukewarm, but the northern 
counties were almost unanimous in their endorse- 
ment of the Republican candidates and Platform. 

The delegation from the Western Reserve re- 
mained firmly opposed to making further concessions 
of any sort to the slave-power. 

While peace commissions from the several States 
had been appointed, on the invitation of Virginia, 
to meet similar commissioners from the South and 
were discussing more "Compromise Measures" with 
a view to placating slaveholders and preserving the 
Union, the young Senators, Cox and Garfield, 
were preparing themselves for the war which they 
felt was inevitable. Their evenings during the 
winter of 1860-61 were spent in the study of army 
regulations, infantry tactics and the great works 
on military strategy with their maps and plans of 
battle. Both believed that the limit of endurance, 
under the aggressions of the Slave-Power had been 
reached; that unless slavery was to be completely 
nationalized and protected, not merely in the terri- 
tories but in the free States, a stop must be put to 
its further extension either by legislation or judicial 
interpretation; that the slave-trade in Africa must 
not be reopened and that slave-hunting in Ohio 
must be closed; that no more slave territory should 
be acquired; that the Fugitive Slave Law must be 
so modified as to allow any resident of a free State, 
claimed as a slave, the right to a trial by jury, and, 
if deprived of his liberty without such trial, the 
right to a writ of habeas corpus to bring him and 
his claim to be a freeman before a proper court in 
the District where he resided or was seized. Both 
believed that the campaign just closed had awak- 



Postscript 211 

ened the people to the necessity for sturdy resistance 
to any further aggressions. During the fall and 
winter of 1860-61, both perceived the growing 
resentment among the people, of all parties and all 
stations in life, at the secession of State after State 
and the seizures by State militia of forts, arsenals, 
custom houses, mints, etc., belonging to the United 
States, and both believed that an act of war, which 
could not be misunderstood or explained away, 
would be regarded as a call to arms and would 
meet with ready and enthusiastic response. Such 
an act of war was the firing on Fort Sumter and the 
response was instantaneous. Cox was commissioned 
as a Brigadier General and Garfield as Lieutenant 
Colonel of the 42d Ohio, and both displayed mili- 
tary ability of a high order and attained the rank 
of Major General. But their subsequent history 
does not belong to this paper. It is doubtful if 
either would have entered public service, and it is 
certain that neither would have entered the military 
service, except for the attempts to enforce the Fugi- 
tive Slave Law in the Western Reserve in the fall 
of 1858 and the year 1859. 

POSTCRIPT. 

Sixty years have elapsed since the events 
described in the above paper. The progress of 
time enables us to make a more dispassionate, and, 
probably more correct, view of the things said and 
done, than was possible at the time. The anti- 
slavery man, when he found the Administration, 
Congress, the Law, and the Courts all against him 
and against what he believed to be right, was forced 
to exclaim "O miserable man that I am, who shall 
deliver me from the body of this death?" It is not 
surprising that he proposed desperate remedies 
and sometimes took the wrong course in trying to 
find a way out of his difficulties. Unless we can 
put ourselves in their place, we can hardly under- 



212 Postscript 

stand how men of the Western Reserve could ever 
believe or assert that each man, or each community, 
was to judge for himself, or itself, whether a law 
was constitutional or not, and obey it, or refuse 
obedience, accordingly. That was the direct road 
to anarchy. We can hardly understand how any 
men — much less lawyers — could expect the Supreme 
Court of Ohio to reverse the Supreme Court of the 
United States, on a question of the Constitutionality 
of a law passed by Congress, or how they could 
expect a State Court to take from the prison a man 
convicted and sentenced to imprisonment by a 
District Court of the United States for violating 
a law of the United States. That road, followed 
a little further, would have led to judicial chaos 
and contempt for all Courts. How could they 
have ignored the plain provisions of the Constitu- 
tion, that "the laws of the United States which 
shall be made in Pursuance thereof * * * shall 
be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges 
in every State shall be bound thereby anything in 
the Constitution of Laws of any State to the Con- 
trary notwithstanding;" that Congress shall have 
power "to make all Laws which shall be necessary 
and proper for carrying into Execution the fore- 
going powers and all other Powers vested by this 
Constitution in the Government of the United States 
or in any Department or officer thereof;" and that 
"The Judicial Power" of United States Courts "shall 
extend to all cases in law and equity arising under 
this Constitution, the laws of the United States" 
etc., and "between citizens of different States," 
e. g., Kentucky slave-catchers and Ohio Rescuers? 
How could they have overlooked the fact that the 
government, the legislature and the Courts of the 
United States are ours, as well as the government, 
the legislature and the courts of Ohio? All may be 
changed from time to time, for better or for worse. 



Postscript 213 

How could they have adopted the Virginia 
and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798-'99 and the 
South Carolina doctrine of Nullification, which 
could only lead to early disintegration and disunion? 
How could they have thought it possible — granting 
that such a course was desirable — for the State of 
Ohio with a poorly organized militia and without 
arms and equipment, to challenge the United States 
to an armed contest over the custody of prisoners 
committed to jail by one of its Courts? The United 
States then had a standing army well equipped and 
largely officered by Southern men under the command 
of a Southern Secretary of War. How long would 
it have taken Robert E. Lee and Joe Johnston, 
with two brigades of infantry, two regiments of 
cavalry and two batteries of artillery to have dis- 
persed Giddings' "Sons of Liberty" and any other 
force which Governor Chase could have mustered? 
Ohio could not count on the assistance or even the 
sympathy of any other State in the Union, and — 
what was still worse — a majority of her own people 
would have been found opposed to the violence 
and disturbance of the peace, occasioned by what 
they would surely have regarded as the aggressive 
and irresponsible action of fanatics and men of one 
idea. There were indications that Democratic parti- 
sans would have welcomed an outbreak which 
would have called for the interposition of the Federal 
power. The result of such a contest — if initiated 
by volunteers or State militia — would almost surely 
have strengthened the Administration and established 
complete control of the Government, in all its 
branches by the slave-power, who could then have 
carried out their entire program in the United 
States and avoided the resort to secession. If 
Judge Swan had joined Judges Brinkerhoff and 
Sutliff, and the Supreme Court of Ohio had ordered 
the release of Bushnell and Langston, Governor 
Chase would either have had to use force and thus 
bring on a conflict with the United States, or would 



214 Postscript 

have been obliged to back down. In either case, 
the State would have suffered and the prestige of 
the Republican party would have been damaged 
beyond repair. It would have been impossible 
then for that party, or any other formed on similar 
lines, to have commanded any large following and 
made successful opposition to a victorious and 
exultant slaveocracy. Judge Swan by his decision 
saved his State from humiliation, his party from 
ruin, and his country from the chains of an oppressive 
oligarchy which it was just beginning to loosen and 
was destined to cast off. Even those who rejected 
him as unworthy to be a Judge of our Supreme 
Court, must have rejoiced, later, that Judge Swan 
spoke "the words of truth and soberness," and that 
the odium of inaugurating civil war in this country 
was cast upon the South, when his advice was fol- 
lowed: — 

"The sense of justice of the people of Ohio has been shocked 
by some of the unjust provisions of the fugitive acts. It is 
not the authority of Congress to legislate that they deny, 
but it is the abuse of the power. That abuse may be reme- 
died by Congress, and if the power to legislate is denied, the 
question can be put an end to by repeal — it is the only consti- 
tutional mode left; the other alternative is intestine war and 
resistance of our national government. 

"All must admit that the owner of escaped slaves is entitled 
to their reclamation. Good faith to sister States demands 
it; and there would be no resistance in Ohio to a fair and just 
law effecting that object. No intense public feeling could be 
excited upon the question as to who should legislate, Congress 
or the States, if a proper law were passed by Congress. 

"I must refuse the experiment of initiating disorder and 
governmental collision, to establish order and even-handed 
justice." 2 7 5 

But, while we may criticise the various methods 
for curing the evils inherent in the Fugitive Slave 
Law of 1850, we cannot fail to see the force of their 
objections to the law itself and to the manner of its 



9 Ohio State Reports, 198. The italics are mine. 



Postscript 215 

enforcement. We wonder how any set of men of 
Anglo-Saxon descent could have conceived and 
enacted such an unfair, unjust and inhuman law. 
Was there no man in that Congressional majority 
capable of putting himself in the place of a colored 
resident of a free State, liable at any time to be 
captured and reduced to slavery on a false affidavit 
of ownership? Was there no man who thought it 
unjust to deprive a man of the right to testify in 
his own behalf on a question involving his personal 
liberty? Was there no man who thought it unfair 
to take a man hundreds of miles away from neigh- 
bors, who had known him for years, before allowing 
any inquiry as to his status in life? W T as there no 
man who thought it important that a man, denying 
that he was the slave of another, should have the 
right of a trial before a Court and Jury? Was there 
among them any man who, if jailed on an insufficient 
warrant, would not have sued out a writ of habeas 
corpus, in order to secure his release? It is almost 
inconceivable. Not one of that Congressional major- 
ity would have submitted, without a fight, to such 
treatment and disregard of his natural rights, as 
was prescribed by the Fugitive Slave Law. Not 
one of that majority would have suffered one of 
his friends to be so treated if he could possibly 
prevent it. The trouble was that pro-slavery men 
were so accustomed to seeing blacks and mulattoes 
treated as brutes, that they could not conceive of 
them as men, or entitled to the rights of men. 

The pro-slavery Justices of the United States 
Supreme Court were blinded in the same way, and 
so placed a false construction on the Constitution 
of the United States, converting it into an instrument 
of oppression which it was never intended to be. 
They denied to the colored man the rights which 
the Constitution, properly construed, secured to 
all men. 



216 Postscript 

In their eagerness, and supposed ability, to 
settle agitation of the slavery question, the Justices 
of that court departed from the rule, of answering 
only such questions as were essential to a disposition 
of the case before them, and discussed every question, 
social, political and moral, which ingenious counsel 
might raise in the course of an argument, and they 
could raise a good many in the course of the eight 
days (including hearing and rehearing) allowed 
for argument in the Dred Scott case. In that case, 
it was necessary to decide only one question. Was 
Dred Scott, the plaintiff, entitled to maintain an 
action in the United States Circuit Court for Missouri 
against Sandford, the defendant, a citizen of New 
York? He sued as a citizen of Missouri, under 
Article III, Sec. 2, of the Constitution which pro- 
vides that "The Judicial powers shall extend to 
* * * controversies between * * * citizens 
of different States." If Scott was a citizen of Missouri 
and Sandford was a citizen of New York, the Court 
had jurisdiction. If Scott was not, as he claimed, 
a citizen of Missouri, the Court could do nothing 
but dismiss his action for want of jurisdiction. There 
was an agreed statement of facts, covering less 
than a page of the reports, from which it appeared 
that Scott and his wife and two children were resi- 
dents of Missouri, but were held there as slaves, 
under the laws of Missouri, by an army surgeon 
who sold them to Sandford just before the suit was 
filed. The Court below charged the jury "that 
upon the facts in this case, the law is with the 
defendant" and thereupon the jury found the de- 
fendant "not guilty," and made a special finding 
that the plaintiff, his wife and children were "negro 
slaves, the property of the defendant." Under the 
laws of Missouri a slave was not a "citizen" of that 
State; therefore, the United States Court did not 
have jurisdiction, and the case should have been 
dismissed. But counsel argued, and the Chief Jus- 



Postscript 217 

tice and most of the Associate Justices discussed, 
all sorts of questions which were irrelevant and 
immaterial, if the Court had no power to try the 
case, such as the status of the negro in all ages and 
countries; the fact that he had always been regarded 
by the whites as an inferior being; questions, whether 
or not a free negro could become a citizen of the 
United States; whether or not, if he could become 
a citizen of one of the States under the laws thereof, 
he would be entitled to the benefit of Article IV, 
Sec. 2 of the Constitution, "The Citizens of each 
State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Im- 
munities of Citizens in the several States;" the 
horror with which the people of a slave State would 
regard the presence of a free negro, citizen of another 
State, etc., etc., for 240 pages of the report. A 
majority of the Court decided, not merely that Dred 
Scott, under the agreed statement of facts and the 
special verdict of the jury, was not a citizen of 
Missouri and therefore his suit must be dismissed, 
but, that free negroes were not and never could 
become citizens of the United States; that he must 
be not merely a citizen of a State but a citizen of 
the United States, in order to entitle him to main- 
tain his action; that the rights and privileges con- 
ferred by the Constitution did not and never could 
apply to free negroes; that the Constitution expressly 
affirms the right of property in slaves; that slave- 
holders could go into and remain in any territory 
of the United States, taking their slave property 
with them; that the Act known as the "Missouri 
Compromise," of 1820, was unconstitutional and 
void, etc. — in fact deciding, in advance of any 
case before them requiring such a decision, that 
every claim made by Southern slave-holders looking 
to the extension of their "peculiar institution," 
and all of the objectionable features of the Fugitive 
Slave Law were Constitutional and "righteous al- 
together." And from the time that decision was 



218 Postscript 

announced, Senators and Representatives from the 
Southern States and pro-slavery Democrats in the 
North, insisted that these obiter dicta were a part 
of the law of the land and must be respected by all ! 

Now, there is not a word in the Constitution 
that limits citizenship of the United States to white 
persons; or that prescribes the qualifications of 
citizenship in the several States. There is not a 
word that limits the privileges and immunities of 
citizens in the several States to white citizens of an- 
other State. There is not a word in the Constitu- 
tion, or the first twelve amendments, which limits 
the rights of a trial by jury and of habeas corpus, 
to citizens of the United States, either white or 
black. The word "person," is used sixteen times 
in the Constitution and nine times in the first twelve 
amendments. The "persons" mentioned in Article 
1, Section 2, may be black or white, bond or free. 
When enumerated for the purposes of representation 
and direct taxation, "the whole number of Free 
'persons" without any restriction as to race or 
color, except "Indians not taxed," are to be counted, 
and "three-fifths of all other persons" — again with- 
out restriction as to race or color. This, and the 
provisions of Art. I, Sec. 9 and Article IV, Sec. 2, 
make it clear that a negro is at least a "person" 
and entitled to all the rights, immunities and privi- 
leges of "persons" except as specifically pointed 
out in these or the other sections and amendments 
where "persons" are mentioned. There is nothing 
within the four corners of the instrument which 
declares, or even intimates that negroes were not 
at the time, or might not become, citizens of the 
United States or any of the several States, or that 
Articles of Amendment, V, VI, and VII should not 
apply to them. Article V says "NO PERSON 
shall be * * * deprived of life, liberty, or prop- 
erty without due process of law" and due process 



Postscript 219 

of law must mean such process as is due alike to 
all persons. 

The whole argument of the Chief Justice is 
devoted to reading into the Constitution and several 
Amendments, exceptions, restrictions and limita- 
tions that are not expressed, and cannot be implied 
from anything contained therein. He, then, ami- 
cably suggests "If any of its provisions" [i. e., those 
he has read into the Constitution] "are deemed 
unjust, there is a mode prescribed in the instrument 
itself by which it may be amended." How can one 
amend by striking out something that is not there? 
How could the language employed in defining 
rights be made more general and comprehensive 
than it was? One sample of his reasoning must 
suffice. He argued that because New Hampshire 
expressly limited enrollment in the militia to "free 
white persons" the makers of the U. S. Constitution 
must have intended to limit all privileges of citizen- 
ship, etc., to "free white persons." Many of the 
early State Constitutions (including that of Ohio) 
did limit citizenship, enumeration for representa- 
tives, etc., to "white males." People of ordinary 
intelligence seem to have understood that if they 
wished to limit the duties and privileges of citizen- 
ship to white persons they must use the qualifying 
word "white." In asserting that persons who did 
not use such qualifying word meant exactly the 
same as people who did, the Chief Justice announced 
a new rule of construction which makes the use of 
language to express ideas quite unimportant. 

But faulty and oppressive as were the laws of 
the United States and erroneous as were the deci- 
sions of the Federal Courts, when those Courts 
pronounced a Federal state constitutional, there 
were but two remedies open to law-abiding citizens. 
(1) To get control of Congress and repeal the law, 
or (2) To elect a President who would appoint 
suitable persons as Judges of the Supreme Court, 



220 Postscript 

and then ask the Court in a new case to overrule 
former erroneous decisions, as was done in the Legal 
Tender Cases. 

The agitation over the Fugitive Slave Law 
on the Western Reserve, while at times threatening 
lawless or revolutionary procedure, was kept under 
wise control and resulted in a settled determination 
to cure the evils of Congressional legislation, 
Judicial interpretation and Executive enforcement 
of that hated statute, through the ballot and strictly 
Constitutional procedure. Southern leaders, fore- 
seeing the inevitable (though deferred) outcome 
of this growing spirit in the North, hastened the 
glad day of deliverance, by seceding and making 
war on the United States. The Western Reserve 
and the whole Northwest were united in a patriotic 
and successful effort to save the Union. In the 
mighty struggle which followed, slavery and all 
constitutional provisions and Congressional laws 
intended for its protection, perpetuation and ex- 
tension, and all pro-slavery decisions of the Supreme 
Court, were swept away, and North and South 
became, once more, a free, homogeneous and united 
people. 



General Index 



"An Act to Prevent Forcible Abduction of the Citizens of Ohio" 74 

"An Act to Punish Kidnapping" 73 

"An Act to Regulate Black and Mulatto Persons in Ohio" 55 

"An Act Relating to Fugitives from Labor or Service from other States" . .75, 76, 77 

"An Act Relating to Juries 57 

Adams, John 12, 13 

"Address to the States, An," by J. Madison 18 

African Slave Trade Laws Ignored 164-166 

Alabama Letters 82 

Allen, Charles N 140, 195 

Allen, George N 204 

Alliance, Ohio, Public Meeting at 174 

Amherst, Ohio 198 

Andrews, J. W Ill 

Andrews, Sherlock J 156 

Annapolis 18 

Anti-Fugitive Slave Law Meetings 97, 98, 99 

Anti-Fugitive Slave Laws 97 

Anti-Slavery Democrat 101 

Ashley, James M 180 

Ashtabula, Ohio 119 

Ashtabula Sentinel, The, Ashtabula, Ohio 79, 139, 178 

Augusta Constitutionalist, The 167 

Backus, F. T 138 

Bacon, John G 125, 126, 142, 145, 146, 151, 199 

Bailey's Free South 138 

Baldwin, Jesse 208 

Baldwin, Henry 50 

Barre, Nelson 108 

Bascom, Wm. T 180 

Bedford, Gunning, Jr 27 

Belden, George W 148, 149, 176, 189, 199, 200 

Bell, John 92 

Belmont County, Ohio 54 

Benedict, G. A 97 

Birchard, Matthew 98, 207 

Birney, James G 81, 82 

Black, Att'y. Gen 198 

Blacks and Mulatto Persons, Education of in Ohio 59-66 

Law against 55, 57, 58, 59 

Not wanted in Ohio 55 

Rapid increase in numbers on Western Reserve after passage of Fugitive 
Slave Law of 1850 119 

221 



222 Index 

Resolutions of Ohio Legislature urging their deportation and coloniza- 
tion in Africa G5-67 

Restrictions on right to enter and reside in Ohio 55-6 

Black Laws 64, 72 

Black Laws of Ohio 54 

Black Laws of Ohio, Demand for Repeal of 57 

Bland, Theodoric 16 

Bliss, George 148 

Booth, Sherman M., Case Against U. S. Marshal 189 

Bosworth, Cyrus 208 

Boynton, Lewis D 127, 134, 142, 199 

Boynton, Shakespeare 128, 134 

Boynton, W. W 199 

Brinkerboff, Jacob 99, 190 

Broom, Jacob 34 

Brown, Charles F 139 

Brown, Geo. F 207 

Brown County, Ohio 74 

Browne, C. C 114 

Brownlee, Judge 99 

Buchanan, James 109 

Burke, Stevenson 138 

Bushnell, Simeon 129, 131, 132, 138, 143, 145, 148, 151, 177, 186, 189 

Butler, Wm 23, 29, 30, 31, 33, 42, 44 

Cabell County, Va 114 

Cadiz, Ohio 140 

Cadwell, Darius, Speech of 176, 177 

Calhoun, John C, last speech 89 

California 88, 93 

Admission of, as a State 88, 89 

Demand for Admission of Without Slavery from the North 91 

Opposition from the South on Admission of California Without Slavery. 91 

Canada 132 

CanBeld, Ohio 97 

Carpenter, Judge 197 

Carroll, Charles 17 

Carroll County, Ohio 54 

Cartter, D. K 199, 203 

Cass, Lewis 86, 92 

Cass County, Mich 52 

Cassopolis, Mich 52 

Chambers, Augustus 122, 123, 124 

Champaign County Arrest of Four Citizens in, for Opposing Slave Huntersll3,114 

Charleston, S. C 48 

Chase, Salmon P 57, 64, 100, 108, 111, 112, 185, 188, 206, 209, 213 

Election as Governor of Ohio 108 

Election to U. S. Senate 57, 64, 84, 209 



Index 223 

Chase, Samuel, Views of Respecting Taxation of Slaves 12, 13 

Chihuahua 167 

Chillicothe, Ohio 44 

Chittenden, Sterne 127, 130, 141, 145 

Cincinnati, Ohio 114, 210 

Clark, Abraham 17 

Clay, Cassius M 181, 185 

Clay, Henry 81,82,85,91,92 

"Alabama Letters" 82 

Cleveland, Ohio 80, 119, 120, 126, 127, 171, 180-9 

Population of 79 

Resolutions of Citizens Against Fugitive Slave Law" 97 

Cleveland Herald, The 97, 125, 132, 137, 162, 204 

Cleveland Leader, The 125, 132, 162, 172. 178, 204 

Cleveland Plain Dealer, The 102, 133, 136, 139, 179, 180, 191, 200, 204 

Cleveland Plain Dealer s Statement of the Position of the Democratic Party on 

Compromise Measures 103, 104 

Clymer, George 41 

Cole, Mrs. Elizabeth Cochran 122 

Cole, Stephen W 122 

Columbiana County, Ohio 54, 175 

Columbus, Ohio 127, 130 

Commissioners to have Jurisdiction over Fugitives, duties of 94, 95, 96 

How appointed 94, 95, 96 

'Compromise Measures" Carried when separately voted on 93 

Endorsed by both Whig and Democratic National Conventions in 1852 . . 101 

Pleased nobody as a whole 93-4 

Proclaimed by President Pierce as final settlement of all disputes between 

North and South 101-2, 109 

Proposed by committee of thirteen 92 

See Fugitive Slave Law infra. 

Conneaut, Ohio 119 

Connecticut. ... 14, 17, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 41, 69 

Connecticut Western Reserve (see Western Reserve) 

Constitution of the U. S., "A nose of wax" 89 

Calhoun discovers (?) that it carries slavery into free territory acquired 

by the U. S 89-90 

IT. S. Supreme Court discovers (?) that it divides "persons" into white 
and colored and that the latter have no rights under i .... 1 16-17. 215, 219 

Constitutional Convention, called by Continental Congress 18-19 

Differences on the inclusion of slaves in representative population 29-36 

Difficulties of adjusting representation of States 21-29 

Meets at Philadelphia 20 

Continental Congress, Calls a Convention to change the Articles of Con- 
federation 18, 19 

Powerless to enforce contributions of men and money by auy of the 
States 14, 15, 18-20 



224 Index 

Corwin, Thomas 82, 83, 84, 85, 111 

Appointment as Secretay of the Treasury 93 

Election of, as Governor of Ohio 81 

Election as U. S. Senator 82 

Cox, Jacob D., Commissioned Brigadier General in 1861 211 

Foresees and prepares for Civil War 210 

Nominated for Ohio Senate in 1859 207-8 

On Committee on Permanent Organization at Cleveland Mass Meeting, 

q.v ISO 

Crittenden, John J. Appointment as Attorney General 93 

Cuyahoga County, Ohio 119 

Causes of Increase in Black Population 80 

Cuyahoga County Jail 150, 189 

Cuba 167 

Curtis, George Ticknor 109 

Davie, Wm. R 32 

Davis, Samuel 127, 130, 137, 198 

Dayton, A. P 120, 125, 127 

Delano, Columbus 186 

Delaware 13, 17, 19, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 36, 38, 41, 47, 51, 54 

Democratic Party, Adopts resolutions against slavery extension 100 

Elects Buchanan President in 1860 109 

Endorses Compromise Measures including the Fugitive Slave Law 101 

Endorses Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 196 

Gains from Whig promotion of Clay's Compromise Measure. .96, 99. 101, 108 

Loses Congressional Elections in 1854 108 

Opposes political rights to any person having a visible admixture of 

African blood 196 

Demcratic Party and its Policy in Ohio 54 

Dennison, William 181, 205, 206 

Nomination for Governor 192 

Dorsheimer, Philip 181 

Doyleston, Pa 48 

Dred Scott Case, Decision of, in U. S. Supreme Court criticised . . 116-1 17, 215-219 
Driskell v Parrish, Suit for damages for obstructing arrest of colored woman 

and child 1 10-112, 119 

Dublin, Ohio 136, 137 

Early, Louis, Free Papers of, Destroyed by Fire 114 

Sale of, in Louisville 115 

Seized as Former Slave 114 

"Echo, " The Slaver 162 

Ellsworth, Oliver 24, 28, 35, 39 

Elyria, Ohio 120, 123 

Empire Hall, Cleveland 97 

Erie County, Ohio 175 

Causes of Increase of Black Population 80 

Fairchild, E. H 172 



Index 225 

Fairchild, James H 132, 203 

Fairport, Ohio 119 

Federalist, The 78 

'Felons Feast, ' ' (Oberlin) 171 

Fillmore, Millard 93, 109 

Finney, Charles G 204 

Fitch, James M 135, 148, 149, 203 

Florida 162 

Flynn, Judge 113 

Fox, Arthur 74 

Franklin, Benjamin 22, 23, 26 

Franklin County, Ohio 112, 137 

Free Democrats in Ohio 57, 81 

Free Soilers, Elected Salmon P. Chase as U. S. Senator 57 

Forced Repeal of Black Laws 57 

Hold balance of power in Ohio legislature in 1849 56 

Increasing Power of 81-87 

Nominate Van Buren for President and defeat Clay in 1852 86-7 

Opposed to Mexican War and annexation of Texas 82-85 

Their platform 86-7 

Fremont, John 109 

French, John R 173, 180 

Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 Construed in favor of claimants 50 

Defects pointed out 47-49 

Objections to 47 

Recognition of by the Ohio Legislature 46 

Resolution Against, Adopted by Ohio legislature inl851 106, 107 

Strictly construed at first 47 

Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, Democratic party retired from power in State and 

Nation 209-10 

Denounced anew after the Oberlin- Wellington Rescue cases 171-179 

Denounced by Ohio Democrats in 1850-51 96-104 

Exasperating practices under 109 

Forcible resistance the only remedy left to the black man 123-4, 155-6 

Forcible resistance to its execution advised. .97, 99, 137-8, 174, 176-179, 182 
How Southern Men and pro-slavery justices of the Supreme Court were 

blinded to evils of 214-15 

Issues for and against squarely made in Ohio Campaign of 1 859 194-196 

More drastic than bill reported by Clay 93 

Objectionable features of 94-96 

One of the "Compromise Measures" 92 

Renders man stealing easy 104, 118-19 

Republicans win and elect Chase as U. S. Senator 205-6 

Scathing review of, by Charles Langston 153-156 

Stirs up wave of indignation in North 96-101 

Fugitive Slaves, Cause of Increase in Number 49 

Fugitive Slaves, Clause in constitution, requiring delivery of to claimants 42 



226 Index 

Practice concerning 45-6 

Garfield, James A., Nominated for Ohio Senate in 1859 208-9 

Studies Art of War with J. D. Cox, 1860-61 210 

Commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of 42d Ohio 211 

Garner Family, Besieged by Slave Hunters 113 

Garretson, Jane, Attempt to take 110 

Gaulden, Col. Speech of 168 

Georgia 10, 13, 23, 24, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 89, 162 

Gerry, Eldridge 24, 35, 37 

Gholson, William Y., Nomination for Supreme Court Judge 193 

Giddings, JoshuaR 57, 178, 182, 185, 191, 203 

Gillman, Nicholas 35 

Goodwin, Mr 203 

Gorham. Nathaniel 16, 29, 35 

Grafton, Ohio 129, 198 

Greene County, Ohio, Arrest of Deputy Marshals and Slave Hunters in 114 

Griswold, S. O. 138 

Habeas Corpus, Ohio Legislature resolves that it is the duty of courts to allow 

writs of, to all persons complying with State laws 106-7 

Writs of, freely granted by U. S. Courts in aid of claimants under Fugitive 
Slave Law of 1850 112-114 

Ohio Supreme Court denies writ of, to Bushnell and Langston 176-7 

Writ of. granted by Wisconsin Supreme Court to take prisoner from 
U. S. Marshal 173, 189 

Ohio Supreme Court issues writ of, for release of Bushnell and Langston 
after sentence, but on final hearing remands them to custody of U. S. 

Marshal 189-90 

Hale, John P 101 

Hall, Lyman W 208 

Hamilton, Alexander 17, 25, 27 

Hamilton County, Ohio 113 

Harrison, Benjamin 13 

Harrison, William Henry 70 

Election of 81 

Hayes, Rutherford B 113 

Higginson, Stephen 17 

Hitchcock, Peter 180, 186, 209 

Hitchcock, President, Western Reserve College 121 

Hitchcock, Reuben 97 

Hoffman, B. F 102 

Holton, Samuel 17 

Howells, W. C 178 

Howells, Wm. D 178 

Huron County, Ohio 120 

Hutchins, Frank 207 

Hutchins, John 98, 207 

Hutchins, John C 122 



Index 227 

Hutchinson Family, songs by 82 

Independent Democrat, The 80, 132, 139,172 

Independent Democrats 81 

Indiana Territory 70 

Jefferson, Ohio 175 

Jefferson County, Ohio 54 

Jcfersonian Democrat, The, Chardon, Ohio 80, 133 

Jennings, Anderson. . . .120, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 141, 142, 145, 146, 151, 154 

165, 198, 199 

Jennings, Anderson, Third Trip to Ohio for Negroes 120 

Johnson, Eliza Jane, Forcible Abduction of 74 

Jones v Van Zandt, Judgement against defendant for $1200 affirmed in U. S. 

Supreme Court 184 

Juries, An Act Relating to Ohio 57 

Keep, Father 203 

Kellogg. Abner 175-177 

Kentucky 49, 54, 73, 101, 113 

Losses from Fugitive Slaves 72 

Kentucky Legislature, Justification of Complaints of the 75 

Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, adopted on the Western Reserve 172, 213 

Kidnapping, Ohio Laws against 55. 73-4, 115-16 

Ohio laws against, disregarded by U. S. District Judge Leavitt and U. S. 
Justice John McLean 51-53, 112-114 

Ohio laws against, repealed by Democratic Legislature in 1859 118 

Resolutions authorizing Governor of Ohio to procure return of kidnapped 

women and children 74-5 

Kilgour, G 114 

King. Rufus 23, 26, 30, 36, 40 

King, William R 92 

Knapp, O. H 97 

LaGrange, Ohio 129 

Lands and houses, as a basis of taxation 13, 15-16 

Lane, Ebenezer Ill 

Langdon, John 35, 40 

Langston, Charles 172, 186, 189 

Speech of in Defense 153-156 

Trial of 149-153 

Langston, John M 155, 172, 186, 191, 203 

Langston Brothers 75 

Lansing, John 24, 26 

Lawrence County, Ohio 112 

Leavitt, Humphrey, U. S. District Judge 114 

Lee, Richard Henry 16,17 

Leggett, M. D 207 

Lewis, Samuel 100, 108 

Liberty Party 81. 84 

Lincoln. William E 136 



228 Index 

Lorain, Ohio 56 

Lorain County, Ohio 119, 120, 135, 171 

Causes of Increase in Black Population of 80 

Lorain County Eagle, The, Elyria, Ohio 132 

Lorain Co. Republican Conv., "Resolutions adopted at" 173, 174 

Louisiana 49 

Louisville Courier 115 

Lowe, Jacob K 127, 130, 145, 146, 151, 154, 198, 199 

McLean, John 51-53, 110-112, 184 

Madison, James 16, 17, 18, 21, 25, 26, 27, 33, 37, 38, 41 

Madison Papers, The 76, 78 

Mahan, Asa 187 

Mahoning Register, The, Canfield, Ohio 79 

Mansfield District of Ohio 99 

Marietta, Ohio 54 

Martin, Luther 26, 38 

Maryland 9, 12, 13, 17, 24, 26, 28-31, 33, 34, 36-39, 41, 47, 48, 49, 54 

Mason, George 30, 37, 39, 41 

Mason, James M 92 

Mason County, Kentucky 74 

Massachusetts. .12, 16, 17, 19, 23, 24, 26, 28-31, 33-35, 38, 40, 41, 54, 68, 69, 

87, 101, 110 

Maysville, Kentucky 120, 125 

Medill, William, Election of 108 

Medina County, Ohio 175 

Mercer, John Francis 37 

"Mermaid," The 128 

Mexican War, Opposed by Ohio 82-84 

Mexico 85 

Missouri Compromise 90, 91 

Mitchell, Richard P 126, 127, 130, 142, 145, 198 

Mitchell, Rufus P 198 

Monroe, James 172, 180, 203, 207 

Monterery, State Constitutional Conventions at 88 

Moravians 54 

Morris, Gouverneur 31, 32, 33, 35, 37, 41 

Morse, John F 56, 57, 206 

Muskingun Valley 54 

Nashville, Tenn., Call for a Southern Popular Convention 91 

National Democrat, Cleveland 204 

Negroes, Allowed to maintain separate schools 64-5 

Not allowed to testify in any case to which a white person was a party; 
to sit on a jury; to send their children to the public schools in Ohio. 

prior to 1 846 56-65 

Prejudice against, portrayed by Charles Langston L54-5 

New England 54 

New Hampshire 17, 35, 36, 38. 40. 41 



Index 229 

New Jersey 13, 14, 17, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 36, 38, 41, 47, 54 

New London, Ohio 129 

New Mexico 92 

New York 14, 17, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 34, 37, 47, 54, 82, 87, 110 

New York Tribune, The 138 

Newspapers 

Augusta Constitutionalist, The 167 

Ashtabula Sentinel, The, Ashtabula, Ohio 79, 139, 178 

Bailey's Free South 138 

Cleveland Herald, The 97, 125, 132, 137, 162 

Cleveland Leader, The 125, 132; 162, 172, 178, 200 

Cleveland Plain Dealer, The 102, 139, 179, 180, 191, 200,204 

Federalist, The 78 

Independent Democrat, The, Elyria, Ohio 79, 80, 132, 139, 172 

Jeffersonian Democrat, The, Chardon, Ohio 80, 133 

Lorain County Eagle, The, Elyria, Ohio 132 

Louisville Courier, The 115 

Mahoning Register, The, Canfield, Ohio 79 

National Democrat, The, Cleveland 204 

New York Tribune, The 138 

Ohio Republican, The 98 

Ohio State Journal, The, Columbus, Ohio 137, 191, 192 

Painesville Telegraph, The, Painesville, Ohio 79, 132, 139 

Portage County Democrat, The, Ravenna, Ohio. .79, 80, 139, 178, 179, 208 

Pittsburgh Commercial Journal 138 

Savannah News, The 168, 169 

Summit Beacon, The, Akron, Ohio 79, 165 

Weekly News, The, Enterprise, Miss 164 

Western Reserve Chronicle, The, Warren, Ohio 79, 139 

Worcester Spy, The, (Mass.) 138 

Newspapers of the Western Reserve 78, 79 

Newton, Eben 98 

Noble, Henry C Ill 

North Carolina 9, 13, 17, 23, 24, 26, 28, 29-34, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 54, 67 

Northwest Territory, An Ordinance for the Government of the 43 

Nullification, South Carolina doctrine advocated by Western Reserve anti- 
slavery men 213 

Oberlin, Ohio, Author's recollections of excitement in, owing to presence of 

slave catchers in 1858 122-125 

Citizens of, indicted for violation of Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 133 

Disturbed by efforts to seize and carry off Negroes 121, 153 

Educational Advantages Offered to Colored People 80 

Pursuit of captors of John Price and his rescue 128-9 

Town and college especially aimed at, in indictment and prose ution of 

prominent citizens 135, 149, 156-7 

Oberlin Chorus, excellence of, and impressive singing by 204-5 

Oberlin College 187 



230 Index 

Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Cases. After two trials, eases against all the others 

nollied 199-200 

Correspondents of many newspapers in attendance 138-9 

Enthusiastic demonstrations at Cleveland and Oberlin when prisoners 

released 202-204 

Facts of rescue stated 118-132 

Fully reported in Cleveland daily papers 139 

Manner of prosecution denounced 159-161 

Partisan character of juries empanneled to try 139 

U. S. Court room crowded during trials 138 

Ohio, Act repealed after decision of U. S. Supreme Court in Prigg v Pennsyl- 
vania 77 

Complaint Against Slave Catchers 73 

Declines to join Massachusetts in proposing Constitutional Amendment 

basing representation on number of free inhabitants only 68-9 

Declines to join North Carolina in proposing Constitutional Amend- 
ment prohibiting slave-trade 67 

Formation of State and adoption of Constitution prohibiting slavery .... 44-5 

Melting pot of the colonies 54 

Number of Blacks in 75 

Passes a Fugitive Slave Act to supplement Congressional Act of 1793. .75-77 

Passes resolutions favoring a tax of $10 on every slave imported 68 

Ohio Convention, The, 1802 44 

Ohio Democratic State Convention. 1848, "Resolutions Adopted by," 100 

Ohio Increase in Colored Population 1850-1860 119 

Ohio Legislature, "An Act relating to Fugitives from Labor or Service from 

other States" 75, 76, 77 

Ohio Legislature, "An Act to Prevent Forcible Abduction of the Citizen of Ohio"74 

"An Act to Punish Kidnapping" 73 

"An Act to Regulate Black and Mulatto Persons in Ohio" 55 

"Enactment of 1856 Against the Fugitive Slave Law" 115, 116, 117, 118 

"Preamble and Resolution Adopted March 9, 1838" 74 

"Repeal of Act Prohibiting the Confinement of Fugitives" 118 

"Repeal of the Act Relating to Fugitives from Labor or Service from Other 

States" 77 

"Resolution Against Acquisition and Control of Foreign Territory in 

theU. S" 83 

"Resolution against the Fugitive Slave Law, Adopted by, in 1851". .106, 107 
"Resolutions Relative to the Abduction of Children and Grandchild of 

Peyton Polly" 104, 105, 106 

"Resolutions relative to the Dred Scott case 116 

Ohio Republican, The 98 

Ohio Supreme Court "Decision Relative to the Fugitive Slave Law" 190 

Ohio Supreme Court, Denies writ of habeas corpus to release Bushnell and 

Langston 176-7 

Grants writ, but on final hearing, remands them to custody of U. S. 
Marshal 189-90 



Index 



231 



Republicans disappointed, but Democrats exultant at decision 190-2 

Ohio State Journal, The 237 igi j 92 

"Omnibus Bill, The ' 9Z 

Ordinance for the Government of the Territory North West of the River Ohio . . 43 

Oregon Territory, "Resolutions Against Slavery in 83 

Osgood, Samuel ,7 

Painesville, Ohio, Citizens order slave catchers to leave in twenty minutes 120 

Mass meeting to denounce prosecution of Oberlin- Wellington rescuers . . 173-4 

Painesville Telegraph, The, Painesville, Ohio 79, 132 139 

Parish, Francis D 110 ' 206 

Parsons, Richard C oqo 

Patterson, William 24. 25 26 29 34 

Payne, Henry B ' " ' 97> ' 10 ' 6> { n 

Peck, Henry E 135) 148j 149< 2Q3 

Pennsylvania. .13-17, 23, 24-26, 28-31, 33-36, 38, 41, 47, 48, 50, 51, 54, 100, 110 

Pennsylvania Dutch ' 54 

Perkins, Hon. Wm. L j 73 

Philadelphia, Pa 48 

Pierce, Franklin 101 

Pinckney, Charles 23, 25, 29, 31, 32, 33, 35, 38. 39, 40, 41, 44 

Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth ' 42 

Pittsburgh Commercial Journal J38 

Pittsfield, Ohio 128 

Plumb, Ralph 133> 135> 148) 149) 172j 2Q3 

Polly , Peyton, Abduction of Children and Grandchild of 104, 105, 106, 112 

Portage County, Ohio ' 175 

Portage County Democrat, The, Ravenna, Ohio 79, 80, 139, 178, 179. 208 

Price, John 125, 126, 127, 128, 145, 146, 148, 151, 171, 175, 197, 198, 199 

Capture of 1 05 

Departure to Canada 132 

. Rescue of 131, 132 

Prigg v Pennsylvania, Case in which U. S. Supreme Court denies right of 

States to legislate in regard to fugitive slaves 77 

Princeton, N. J 51 

Princeton College, President of 13 

Progressive Whigs 81 101 

Pugh, Geo. E 113) 114j 206,' 209 

Election to U. S. Senate 198 

Quinby, Samuel 207 

Randolph, Edmund 18, 26, 33, 34, 35, 41, 44 

Ranney, Rufus P 97> 101j 195> 205> 206 

Statement of Position on the Question of the Day 102 

Ratliff, Robert B 



.207 



Rawlins, E. A. Slaver, Lands African slaves in Georgia 162 

No one punished for it 1($ 4 

Reed, Otis 134 

Republican Party, Carries Ohio by large majorities in 1859 206 



232 Index 

Carries State for Fremont in 1856 109 

Dissolution of, expected by Democrats as a result of prosecution of Oberlin- 

Wellington rescuers 157-8 

Elects Chase, U. S. Senator in 1860 209 

Elects Salmon P. Chase, Governor of Ohio in 1855 108 

First appearance in Ohio politics 108 

Saved from disaster by decision of Ohio Supreme Court in habeas corpus 

cases, re Bushnell and Langston, in 1859 214 

Rescuers indicted, the 133, 134 

Rhode Island 13, 17 

Rhodes, Daniel P 140 

Rhodes, J. F 140 

Riddle, Albert G 138, 146, 148, 149, 189, 203 

Robinson, J 114 

Rochester, Ohio 129 

Root, Joseph M 88 

Rootsville, Ohio 134 

Rosetta, taken by writ of habeas Corpus 112 

Ross County, Ohio 114 

Rutledge, John 17, 23, 34, 35, 38, 40 

Sandusky, Ohio 80, 110, 120, 125 

Savannah News, The 168, 169 

Scott. Josiah 190 

Scrimegeour, Wm. D 122 

Shawmake. Judge, Address of 169 

Sherman, Roger 24, 26, 28, 36-41 

Sims, Negro, sensational arrest and deportation of, from Boston 109 

Slave hunters, arrest of, in Greene County, 114 

Slave-laws Ignored 164-166 

Slave population, as a basis for apportioning direct taxes and representation 

among the States 10, 12-13, 16-17 

Slave power construes Constitution so as to protect slavery and its extension 

to the territories 176-7, 181-2, 183-4 

Maintains control of U. S. Supreme Court from 1837 to 1861 U 4 

Slave Trade, Compromise on provision that it shall not be prohibited before 

1808 41-2 

Denounced by Northern papers including Democratic 162-165 

Efforts to change U. S. Constitution so it should never be prohibited. .36, 40 

Encouraged by representation based on number of slaves 31 , 38 

Evil consequences of its continuance pointed out 38-40 

Ohio refuses to join North Carolina in proposing Amendment allowing 

prohibition of 67 

Prohibited by Maryland and Virginia 39 

Reopened in defiance of law 161-163 

Republicans alone demand vigorous enforcement of the laws 194-196 

Republican and Democratic State Conventions in Ohio condemn, in 
1859 194-196 



Index 233 

South Carolina and Georgia threaten not to join Union if prohibited 40 

Southern politicians, newspapers and conventions demand repeal of 

"unconstitutional laws" prohibiting 166-171 

Violations of act to suppress, go unpunished 162-165 

Slaver, The Echo 162 

Slaver, The Wanderer 162 

Slavery, Opposition to Introduction in New Territories 82, 83 

Slavery, Abolition of, in District of Columbia demanded 38-9, 41 

Conscientious objections to, recognized by Judges 50-1 

Differences between North and South in constitutional convention 33-4 

Early abolition of expected 9, 39, 103 

General opposition to extension of 43, 50, 83, 99-101, 106, 108,116-7 

Smith, Chas. W 208 

Smith, James 121 

Sonora 167 

"Sons of Liberty," Formation of 178, 213 

South Bend, Ind 52 

South Bend Rescue Case 51 

South Carolina 10, 13, 17, 23-26, 28-31, 33-36, 38-42, 48, 49, 89, 162 

Spalding, Rufus P 138, 146, 148, 149, 150, 180, 203 

Spear, Wm. T 207, 208 

Spooner, Thomas 181 

Spratt, Hon. L. W 169, 170, 171 

Stanbery, Henry Ill 

Stanton, R. H 199 

Stark County, Ohio 54 

State Rights Doctrine Advocated on the Reserve 158 

Stephens, Alexander H 167 

Address at Augusta, Ga., July 4, 1859 167 

State Sovereignty, Doctrine of, invoked in opposition to fugitive Slave Law 

and its enforcement 171-174 

Majority of delegates to Philadelphia Convention favor doing away with it . 21 

Protected by original Articles of Confederation 12-13 

Recognized as inimical to National strength and perpetuity 12, 14, 19 

Storrs Township 113 

Summit Beacon, The, Akron 79, 165 

Sutliff, Levi 207 

Sutliff, Milton 98, 106, 207 

Swan, Judge 190, 193, 194 

Swayne, Noah H 189 

Taylor, Ezra B 207 

Taylor, Zachary 85, 87, 88, 92, 93 

Tennessee 54, 101 

Texas 92, 104, 167 

Annexation of opposed 82-84 

Annexation of accomplished 85 

Opens new market and increases demand for slaves 104 



234 Index 

Plan to divide into four slave states 85, 92, 167 

Plan to divide Displeasing to the North 92, 94 

Three-fifths rule 9, 17-18, 29-33, 36,69-70 

Thurman, Allen G 100 

Tiffany, Joel 97 

Tilghman, Mr. Chief Justice of Penna 50 

Toombs, Robert 89 

Townshend, Norten S 56, 57 

Trimble, Allen 108 

Trowbridge, J. T 113 

Trumbull County, Ohio 78, 181 

Tuscarawas County, Ohio 54 

Tyler, Joel W 207 

"Underground Railroad," Increased travel over after passage of Fugitive 

Slave Law of 1850 119-20 

Union, The, Endangered by aggressions of Slave-Power and apparently 

saved by various compromises up to 1860 90-1, 93, 101-2, 164-5 

Made secure by attempted succession and abolition of slavery 220 

United States Supreme Court, Constitution make it supreme in all cases arising 

under Constitution and Laws of the U. S 212 

Decision in Dred Scott case severely criticised 116-17, 184, 194 

Its supremacy over State Supreme Courts denied 173 

Ohio Republican Convention of 1859 194 

Provisions and limitations read into U.S. Constitution which are nowhere 

expressed 218-19 

Re-formation of Court demanded by Ohio Legislature 116 

What led to obiter dicta in Dred Scott case 215, 218 

Upson, W. H 180 

Utah 92 

Vallandigham, Clement L 114 

VanBuren, Martin, Nomination of 86 

Platform of 86, 87 

Votes poled by 87 

Vermont 101 

Vinton, Samuel F 100 

Virginia 9, 13-19. 23-26, 28-31, 33-36, 38, 39, 41, 47, 54 

Wack, Mr 129 

Wack's Hotel, (Oberlin) 122, 125 

Wack's Tavern 128 

Wade. B. F 97, 180, 191, 209 

Election of 85 

Wadsworth, O. S 198 

Wadsworth House 129 

Wagoner Family, Attempt to Capture 121 

Walker, Timothy 113 

Wanderer, The Slaver 162 

Ward, Artemus 133, 186, 139 



Index 235 

Warren. Malachi 127, 198 

Warren, Ohio 102, 125 

Washburn, Geo. G 171 

Washington, Bushrod 47, 48, 49 

Washington, George '. 20, 38 

Wayne County, Ohio 54 

Waynesboro, Ga 169 

Webster, Daniel 85, 92, 93 

Appointment as Secretary of State 93 

Weekly News, The, Enterprise, Miss 164 

Wellington, Ohio 128, 145, 147, 198 

Western Reserve, The 25, 110 

The, Character of its People and Institutions 78 

Educational Facilities of the Colored Children 65 

Immigration to 54 

Opposition to the Fugitive Slave Law 171 

Population of 78, 79 

Provisions for Liberal Education, in the 78 

Western Reserve Chronicle, The, Warren, Ohio 79. 139 

Western Reserve Historical Society 7, 8 

Whig Party, The 81, 85, 99, 100, 101 

Death of 101 

The Effect of the Fugitive Law upon 96 

Whitman, Henry C 106 

Whiton, Joseph L 198 

Williamson, Hugh 26, 28, 30, 36, 37 

Willson, Hiram V 97, 133, 148, 159,176 

Wilmot, David 99 

'Wilmot Proviso," Delays organization of Territories in land wrested from 

Mexico 87 

Nature of 87 

Opposed by the South 91 

Rejected in Clay "Compromise Measures," 92 

Wilson, James 13, 16, 23, 26, 31, 35, 37, 40 

Winsor, Richard 131, 132 

Wisconsin Supreme Court, Declares Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 unconstitu- 
tional and void and grants writ of habeas corpus taking prisoner from 

custody of U. S. Marshal 173, 189 

Witherspoon, Dr. John 13 

Wolcott, Christopher P 189 

Wolcott, Oliver 17 

Wolf, Mr. of Louisville, Ky 113 

Wood, Reuben, Election of 100 

Worcester Spy,The, (Mass.) 138 

Worthington, Governor Thomas 72, 73 



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